Local bet shocks London hopefuls

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines  – Hometown teen archer Marie Crizabelle Merto shamed two Olympic aspirants as she conquered the women’s open recurve competitions in devastating fashion yesterday in the POC-PSC National Games at the City High School here.

Determined to retain her crown on home soil, 17-year-old Merto shot a high 647 (320-327) in the Qualification Round (Double 70) to nose out nationals Edwina delos Reyes 614 (295-319) and Rachelle Anne Cabral-dela Cruz 599 (294-305), both of NCR,  for the first mint.

Delos Reyes and Dela Cruz are part of a six-man Phl team seeking to earn berths to London in next month’s World Cup in Utah, the final qualifying event for archery.

An incoming Computer Engineering freshman at Silliman U, Merto actually showed better marksmanship than the champion in the men’s open recurve Qualification Round, NCR’s Paul Marton Dela Cruz, who had a winning 142.

Three-time Palaro princess Merto then trounced Delos Reyes in the Olympic Round (set system) finale, 6-0, to complete her dominance and make a strong case for her own Olympics aspirations.

“I didn’t actually expect to shoot that well because it was windy and we’re not familiar with the venue; this is our first time to play here,” Merto, a member of the national pool who trains alongside Olympian Mark Javier and Jennifer Chan at Silliman, said in Filipino.

Florante Matan (men’s open recurve Olympic Round), Amaya Paz Cojuangco (women’s open compound Olympic Round), Delfin Adriano (men’s open compound Olympic Round), Chan (women’s open compound Qualification Round), and Earl Benjamin Yap (men’s open compound Qualification Round) hit the mark in the other events.

Moments of triumph from a mix of veterans and youngsters highlighted Day 7 of the meet organized by POC and PSC and backed by Smart Communications, Standard Insurance, Accel, Summit Mineral Water, AKTV, Ayala Corporation, Puregold Price Club, Scratch it! Go for Gold, SM Investments Corp., 2Go, Pocari Sweat, The Philippine STAR, and Cebu Pacific.

Ageless warrior John Baylon of Zamboanga proved he’s still the top dog in judo’s 90kg play over at the Negros Oriental High School while Felyn Dolloso of HyperSports (girls’ triple jump) stole the thunder with a record-smashing feat in athletics at the Perdices Sports Complex.

The 47-year-old Baylon, a nine-time SEA Games titlist, threw down La Salle’s CJ San Pedro in less than 10 seconds to handily clinch the diadem.

Nineteen-year-old Dolloso of Escalante, Negros Occidental leapt to 12.55 meters to shatter the Phl junior mark of 12.53m she herself set in the 2010 Palaro.

The record-setting triumph made up for Dolloso’s silver in the girls’ long jump, where Mary Ann Diesto reigned with 5.23 meters against her 5.02m.

In chess at the Dumaguete Convention Center produced a new discovery in Negros Oriental’s Vincent Balena, who topped the youth-boys division with six points. National Chess Federation of the Philippines executive director GM Jayson Gonzales said they will bring Balena to Manila for further training.

GM Darwin Laylo of Marikina took the title in the men’s open with 5.5 points, nosing out IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Rolando Nolte and FM Antonio Bersamina for the plum via tiebreak.

At the Lorenzo Teves Aquatics Center, London-bound swimmer Jessie King Lacuna secured his fifth mint of the meet, the boys’ 19-over 100m fly, clocking 59.69 against NegOr’s Adrian Bonocan (1:24.05) and Silliman’s Michael Alvarez (1:30.98). He could have gone six-for-six if not for a disqualification in the 400m IM as his body was not in breaststroke position after the 50m turn.

Over at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Manila, heavy rains forced organizers to reset the championship match between National Team and Phl Youth Team to 9 am today. Game was halted in the first inning.

In morning play, Rizal Technological University drubbed University of Santo Tomas, 10-5, to cop the bronze medal. 

Notes:  Jerome Oclaret of Tangub provided an amusing sight in the pole vault event of decathlon by opting to use a bamboo pole instead of a fiberglass pole. He signed a waiver that it was his personal choice to use the bamboo pole. Oclaret finished fourth in pole-vault but claimed a silver at the end of the 10 events with 4,983 points.