GenSan, Davao del Norte strike in taekwondo

DAPITAN CITY , Philippines – Gen. Santos City and Davao del Norte shared taekwondo honors while Panabo City and Misamis Oriental dominated boxing at the close of the Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission Batang Pinoy 2012 Mindanao leg here yesterday.

GenSan, which also won seven golds in athletics, came in full force in taekwondo and romped off with six gold medals at the New Government Lobby while Davao del Norte collected three.

In boxing, Panabo City had five golds and Misamis Oriental three.

While the four local government units stamped their class in contact sports, Davao City and Zamboanga City dominated most of the 11 sports disputed. All except for pencak silat served as qualifying legs as the gold and silver winners earned berths in the Dec. 5-9 national finals in Iloilo City.

Zamboanga City won 42 golds, 27 silvers and 25 bronzes, counting the two victories it posted in pencak silat which served as national championships. It lorded over the field in karatedo with 14 golds, swimming with 13 and athletics with seven.

Davao City finished with 40 gold medals, 27 silvers and 14 bronzes, including victories in swimming where it got 15 golds, five of them from 15-year-old Dara Clariza Evangelista.

Also providing bright spots for Davao City was Fide Master Austin Jacob Literatus who ended up winning most number of golds with six in chess competitions including in boys standard, blitz and rapid, and team titles in each of the events.

The high school senior at Doña Carmen National School is already considered a wonder boy in Philippine chess as he bagged golds in several Asian age-group championships.

In total, Davao City accumulated 10 gold medals in chess while also getting shares of wins in arnis (six golds), athletics (six), and karatedo (two).

Gen. Santos City and Davao del Norte gained 13 gold medals each to hold their grounds against the regional powerhouse teams.

Gen. San got its taekwondo golds from Jerel Anthony Dalida in boys bantamweight, Earnest Alvin Rosaot in flyweight, Gian Carlo Cunanan in featherweight, Oliver Aburdo in welterweight, Johanes Abayon in middleweight and Angel Abbyx Lerio in girls middleweight.