Torre leads PH Sports Hall of Fame inductees

MANILA, Philippines – A new batch of sports heroes headed by chess Grandmaster Eugene Torre will be inducted to the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame.

Torre, Asia's first Grandmaster and a Candidates Match quarterfinalist who led the Phl to its best finish at No. 8 in the 1988 Thessaloniki Olympiad, will be one of the names of the select group that will be inducted into the elite circle by the Philippine Sports Commission.

"It will officially be announced by the chairman tomorrow (Tuesday)," said PSC executive director Atty., Guillermo Iroy referring to PSC chair Richie Garcia.

Aside from Torre, also expected to get the nod are swimming's Hayddee Coloso Espino and Jacinto Cayco, athletics' Mona Sulaiman, basketball's Ed Ocampo, Kurt Bachman and Mariano Tolentino, and tennis' Johnny Jose among others.

The new group will join the first batch that made it to the Hall five years ago headed by boxing greats Gabriel "Flash" Elorde, Francisco "Pancho Villa" Guilledo, Ceferino Garcia, Jose "Cely" Villanueva and his son Anthony Villanueva.

Also getting the nod were Olympians Miguel White, Simeon Toribio, Teofilo Yldefonso and Carlos Loyzaga and the Philippine Team that won bronze in the 1954 World Basketball Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.