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Team Philippines started strong but finished obviously exhausted in a nip-and-tuck duel against controversies, foreign competition, and politics that ended with the Filipinos losing by five.
First quarter boom
At the opening tipoff, the Philippines scored two consecutive wins courtesy of tennis ace Francis Casey Alcantara. The teenage sensation capitalized on a nifty bounce pass from Taiwanese import Chang Peng Hsieh to repulse the double team defense of Mikhal Biryukov of Russia and Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan, 6-4, 6-2 as Alcantara became the first-ever Filipino to win a tennis Grand Slam crown when he bagged the Australian Open boys' doubles trophy last February 2. Moments later, Alcantara scored again off an ala-Jaworski-behind-the-back-assist from Swedish reinforcement Daniel Berta to win the Mitsubishi Lancer International Tennis Championship men's doubles trophy, 6-3, 6-0, against the zone defense of brothers Ben and Riki McLachlan of New Zealand last March 30.
However, a referee from Laos halted play as the Laos Southeast Asian (SEA) Games organizing committee decided to cancel basketball in the regional biennial meet—a sport where Filipinos dominate in the region.
Second quarter slam
The second quarter continued with star player Manny Pacquiao scoring his sixth slam dunk, demolishing Ricky Hatton of Britain in the second round via sweet-chin-music-knockout, as the “Pambansang Kamao” won the International Boxing Organization light welterweight belt in Las Vegas last May 3.
However, the Philippine Daily Inquirer suddenly pressed the buzzer, publishing a four-part investigative special on alleged game-fixing and point-shaving among “popular” collegiate cagers linked with gambling agents in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletics Association. The said bombshell was unearthed by a runner of gambling syndicates, some former players, coaches, and officials, prompting the referee to call a traveling (“byahe”--a colloquial term amongst collegiate sportsfans pertaining a game that is suspected to be fixed by the players involved) violation against some collegiate cagers.
Third quarter explosion
Doing a pick-and-roll play, the backcourt tandem of Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante displayed impeccable teamwork to outlast the duo of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann, 11-9, to earn their second World Cup of Pool trophy last September 6. Meanwhile, teenage rookie Marvin Sonsona showcased killer crossover moves in a one-on-one isolation play versus Puerto Rican Jose Lopes to become the new World Boxing Organization flyweight champion, winning via unanimous decision also on September 6. Additionally, the Philippine Dragon Boat Team scored two consecutive clutch baskets in the 2009 World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, topping the 200-meter premier open and mixed categories last September 4.
RP boxer Marvin Sonsona bests Puerto Rican Jose Lopez to garner the WBO flyweight title.
However, the Philippines got itself down by eight points by landing eighth among 16 countries in the 2009 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asian Championship, getting smashed by Iranian and Jordanian opponents. The opponent's lead bubbled to double digits as the Philippines landed dead last in the Asian Junior Wrestling Championships held in Manila, where it drew jeers from the audience as a verbal fisticuff erupted between the organizing Wrestling Association of the Philippines and the bankrolling Philippine Sports Commission over financial and logistical matters.
Fourth quarter rampage
Team Philippines' woes continued to worsen as a young standout, 6'9” Japeth Aguilar, got stuck in an ebb while entering the Philippine Basketball Association by initially refusing to sign his contract with the Burger King Whoppers, which picked him first in the 2009 draft. Aguilar, who held the ball for a moment, faked a jumper by subsequently signing the contract and playing one game with Burger King but he was later traded to the Talk 'n Text Tropang Texters. However, Talk 'n Text owner Manny Pangilinan called timeout after Aguilar committed a shotclock violation for not shooting the ball and relegated the former Ateneo standout to the Smart Gilas Developmental Team, which Pangilinan also owns.
After Aguilar's indecision, burly point guard Wynne Arboleda suddenly blew his head over an irate fan, who was screaming expletives at him in the sidelines. Arboleda mauled the fan with punches landing in the air instead of the fan's head, as Arboleda got thrown out by the referees for one whole season.
But in a sudden turn of events, ace player Manny Pacquiao scored his seventh slam dunk over Miguel Angel Cotto of Puerto Rico via unanimous decision last November 13. Pacquiao won the MVP award by being the only fighter in history to have won seven world titles in seven different divisions.
Teenage Grandmaster Wesley So continued RP's run by scoring a daredevil layup over two seven-footers, Super Grandmasters Gata Kamsky of the United States and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the World Chess Cup in Russia. However, the 5'9” So sustained a sprained ankle upon making a bad landing on the foot of 6'10” Super Grandmaster Vladimir Malakhov of Russia after the latter booted the former out of the tournament in the round-of-16 stage.
Team Philippines shot a last ditch effort as Efren “Bata” Reyes teamed up with Rubilen Amit in the World Pool Mixed Doubles Classic, beating the pair of Charlie Williams and Eun Ji Park of Korea, 9-7.
At the end of the buzzer, regional rivals Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia conspired to subdue Team Philippines by five points, as RP landed at fifth place overall in the 25th SEA Games in Laos, bagging 38 gold, 35 silver, and 51 bronze medals.
Photos:
“Lion Basketball” by Drew Bennett, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.
“Fight Night 044” by Bernard Delmundo, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.
“Square Chess” by Daniel Go, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.
Video: "Marvin Sonsona vs. Jose Lopes" uploaded by dude3nuckle to YouTube.
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