YEARENDER: Losses and gains in Philippine sports

The year ended with an unhappy note for sports loving Filipinos when they were stunned with the sixth-round knockout loss of eight-division boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao during his Dec. 8 fourth fight with Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas, Nevada.
With the loss, Pacquiao fell in most pound-for-pound ratings behind Marquez and Filipino boxing sensation Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr., who had a successful campaign in 2012.
During the year, Donaire defeated all four opponents in the 122-pound division including his recent third round knockout win over Mexican veteran Jorge Arce a week after Pacman’s loss on Dec. 15 in Houston, Texas which somehow brought life anew to the bright future of Philippine boxing and soothed the hurting pride of Filipinos.
On Nov. 17 in Los Angeles, California, World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight champion Brian Viloria knocked down World Boxing Association (WBA) champ Hernan “Tyson” Marquez, in the first and fifth rounds before the Hawaii-based Filipino unleashed a solid left hook in the 10th to win via a technical knockout when the Mexican’s corner threw in the towel to unify the two belts, the first time in nearly 50 years.
With the biological clock ticking fast on the 34-year-old Pacquiao and the 31-year-old Viloria, the role of inspiring Filipinos, athlete or not, now lies in the hands of Donaire and upcoming bright prospects.
BASKETBALL
Last January, basketball crazy fans saw Talk ‘N Text, backed up by finals MVP Larry Fonacier, successfully defending the 2011-2012 Philippine Cup against the Cinderella team of Powerade to notch its fifth Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) title and third all-Filipino crown. With the win, Talk and Text became the first team in 27 years to defend the PBA’s most prestigious title after Great Taste accomplished the feat in 1985.
But in the 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup last May, Talk and Text failed to continue its winning ways bowing out in an exciting Game 7 overtime to the B-Meg Llamados which notched its first PBA title since joining the league three years ago. B-Meg’s Denzel Bowles was named Best Import for the conference while teammate James Yap the finals MVP.
Last August, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters also prevented the B-MEG Llamados from getting a consecutive title by closing out another exciting Game 7 finals to claim the 2012 PBA Governors Cup, their first title since joining the league in 2006, despite the absence of Rookie of the Year Paul Lee, who failed to finish Game 2 of the finals due to a recurrent shoulder injury.
The ongoing 2012-13 PBA Philippine Cup started last Sept. 30 and will wrap in the third week of January 2013. Teams now battling it out in the semifinals are led by top seed Talk ‘N Text, San Mig Coffee Mixers, Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, and the Alaska Aces, with scheduled games until Dec. 28 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum and SM Mall of Asia Arena.
With the exception of the loyal Barangay Ginebra fans, enthusiasm in basketball has somewhat diminished as fans cannot distinguish anymore between the All Filipino Cup and the PBA reinforced conference with the influx of numerous Fil-Ams unlike when excitement in the popular sport was dished out by homegrown Filipino talents.
COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL
In October, the highly fancied Ateneo Blue Eagles won its fifth consecutive title by winning the 2012 UAAP 75 Season beating University of Sto. Tomas two games in a row in their best-of-three championship at the Araneta Coliseum that was attended by some 20,000 fans.
In the latter part of October, the San Beda Red Lions, mentored by high school alumni Ronnie Magsanoc, scored a three-peat at the expense of the Letran Knights in the 88th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the feat, Magsanoc, one of the PBA’s 25 legends and an assistant coach of the Meralco Bolts in the PBA, earned the Season 88 Coach of the Year.
The win also catapulted San Beda as the winningest UAAP team with a record 17 titles.
PHILIPPINE AZKALS
The Philippine Men’s National Football team, or the Philippine Azkals, had a Cinderella run in 2012 playing a total 32 games including several wins in friendlies with neighboring countries in preparation for the coveted 2012 2012 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup.
However, the Azkals fell short when the Singapore Lions upended their luck, 1-0, during the second leg of their AFF Suzuki Cup semifinal match in Singapore. Earlier, the Azkals held Singapore to a draw in their first semifinal leg at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Prior to the semifinals, the Azkals lost, 2-1, to Thailand before winning against Vietnam, 1-0, and Myanmar, 2-0, to advance.
The last time the Azkals reached the semifinals of the Suzuki Cup was in 2010.
In a FIFA-sanctioned international friendly last September, the much improved Azkals, for the first time, had beaten Singapore in their home turf. They repeated the feat in a friendly in Cebu City last Nov. 15 prior to the Suzuki Cup.
Despite reaching the semifinals of the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, the Philippines slid down to 147 in the latest FIFA world rankings released last December 19, from their highest ranking of 143rd last November.
FIFA, the world governing football body, now ranks the Philippines third in Southeast Asia behind Vietnam (131st) and Thailand (136th), which lost to Singapore in the Suzuki finals. Singapore is now ranked 154th, Indonesia at 156th and Malaysia, 158th.
Last September, the Azkals also won the Peace Cup sweeping its games as expected against lower ranked Guam, Macau, and Chinese Taipei.
Last March in Nepal, the Azkals also reached the semifinals and landed third in the Challenge Cup, a football competition played by emerging football nations in Asia, with the winner earning a slot in the 2015 Asian Football Cup in Australia.
At present, the Philippines is preparing for the Challenge Cup qualifying, where the country hosts this year’s runner-up Turkmenistan, Brunei and Cambodia with the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium and the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City as possible venues for the upcoming tournament in March.
While they fell short of expectation, the Azkals, led by the popular Younghusband brothers, Phil and James, and other Europe-based players with Filipino lineage, have been locally popularizing the sport which does not require height as in basketball and, in several years, could put the Philippines in the football map.
OTHER SPORTING EVENTS NEEDING SUPPORT
There are other not so popular sporting events that brought honors for the Philippines despite the apparent lack of support that include the bemedalled dragon boat paddlers and student athletes competing abroad.
Also, the 11-member Philippine Memory Team members who won nine medals including the bronze in the 2012 World Memory Championships (WMC) held in London last December 14-16 .