Batang Pinoy national finals under way

ILOILO CITY, Philippines  – With the weather improving, the Philippine Sports Commission-Batang Pinoy 2012 national finals goes full blast today with 32 gold medals up for grabs in various events at the Iloilo Sports Complex here.

Organizers are forced to hold the five-day meet to a three-day schedule after Typhoon Pablo swept through Visayas and Mindanao, stranding some participants coming from the two regions and leading to the postponement of the games set Wednesday.

“The Batang Pinoy will go full blast tomorrow (today) because the weather has improved fast,” said PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez, overall in-charge of the games, in a briefing yesterday.

Gomez said they used yesterday’s break to give some of the athletes stranded in ports in the Visayas and Mindanao time to rest and prepare in time for today’s action.

Only boxing got to its event at the nearby Western Visayas State U grounds although participants are allowed to box more than once a day due to health reasons.

“Boxing has started already and the rest will be held tomorrow (today),” said Gomez.

A total of 32 medals will also be disputed Friday with the top 10 best athletes after the competitions will be sent for training in San Diego, California, Australia or China.

Athletics will stake medals on 5,000 meters, 2,000m, long jump, shotput, high jump, 400m, 100m hurdles, 110m hurdles, 100m, 1,500m, 4x100m relays for boys and girls 13-and-under and 14-15 year old athletes.

Medal-rich swimming also get under way today along with wushu as it holds its finals in danda and talou events at the Jaro Plaza covered court and archery at the La Paz football field.

Although there are some 400 of the expected 1,200 qualifiers, who won gold and silver in the regionals in Marikina City, Lingayen in Pangasinan, Dapitan in Zamboanga del Norte, Calapan in Oriental Mindoro and Tacloban in Leyte, failed to make it here, the event still drew 1,038 athletes.

They include hundreds of bronze medalists in the various qualifiers, who came here on their own to compete among the best.

“We told the bronze medallists to pay their own. If they win here, their expenses will be reimbursed,” said Gomez.

Other events on tap are arnis, badminton, chess, karatedo, lawn tennis, table tennis and taekwondo plus 3-on-3 basketball, wushu, triathlon and archery.