Torre heads Hall of Fame honorees

MANILA, Philippines - After going through a rigid screening process, Grandmaster Eugene Torre, former Asian Games sprint star Mona Sulaiman, and multi-titled swimmer Haydee Coloso-Espino made it to the second batch of 17 honorees to the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame.

“I am pleased to announce the latest 17 athletes who have made it to the honor roll of the Philippine Sports Hall of Fame,” said Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia yesterday’s in the PSA Forum at Shakey’s Malate in Manila.

The other awardees are former world weightlifting champion Salvador del Rosario, national basketball players Ed Ocampo, Mariano Tolentino, and Kurt Bachmann, tennis players Felicisimo Ampon, Johnny Jose, and Raymundo Deyro,  athletic standouts Inocencia Solis and Isaac Gomez, shooters Adolfo “Chito” Feliciano and Martin Gison, and swimmers Jacinto Cayco, Gerardo “Ral” Rosario and Mohamad Pala.

Still playing actively at 64, Torre, who ruled the National Open chess championship in 2014, was outstanding during the 1974 World Chess Olympiad in Nice, France, going undefeated on Board 1 with nine wins and one draw on the way to bagging a bronze medal. The Asia’s first GM and a Candidates Match quarterfinalist also led the Philippines to its best finish at No. 8 in the 1988 Thessaloniki Olympiad.

Sulaiman was the toast of the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games, sweeping the 100 and 200-meter runs, while anchoring the Philippine squad to victory in the women’s 4x100-meter relay.

Coloso-Espino accumulated three golds and five silvers in three consecutive Asian Games from 1954 (Manila), 1958 (Tokyo) to the 1962 Jakartra edition of the continental sports showcase.

 In 1970, Del Rosario ruled the flyweight division of the world weightlifting championships in Akron, Ohio and copped a silver in the Thailand Asian Games.