Gasping for breath, crying.
Amidst the roar of cheers from jubilant kababayans, anyone who saw Chino Sy Tancontian of Pilipinas Samboon Thursday night would agree, he was extremely spent, but relieved. His sturdy, muscular frame did not bare the child inside, but his eyes can’t hide.
The 18-year old Dabawenyo had just survived a gruelling battle with division no. 1 Gary Chow of Singapore in the gold medal match of the 30th Southeast Asian Games Sambo event in Clark, Pampanga.
He had just delivered another gold for the Philippines. But for a debuting SEA Games sport whose leadership is truly Davao-based, this is not lost amidst the avalanche of mint that has fortunately befallen the Philippine delegation’s war chest. This is extra special. And for Chino, he just took the gold medal in what many considered as the toughest division of them all.
The son for former national judoka Paolo wrapped himself with the Philippine flag and rushed to his team’s corner. If emotions can speak, it would’ve said: “Is this really happening?.”
Perhaps, not many, outside Chino’s family–most especially his father-coach Paolo–believed he can make it.
Who would have thought that Tancontian could finally upset his tormentor and the number one in the division in a fair test of will in the men’s -82kg category?But yes, Chino did just that, scoring a 4-1 win over the highly-favored Chow. Given the Singaporean’s brute power and savvy, he could easily go by the name “Quick Chow.” Yet, unlike the Pinoy favorite noodle brand, he was not an easy commodity.
A year ago, the Singaporean judo superstar sent Tancontian reeling to a painful loss in the gold medal contest of Hajime International Invitational Judo Tournament held in the Philippines.
From there, Chow has become Chino’s worst nightmare in the division, and having the Singaporean in the biennial games rightfully placed the Davao pride into the underdog role. If any, this was a virtual David versus Goliath match.
Where no one expected much of Chino, he overdelivered.
Chow was served hot and saucy for the doubters.
“Nung lumamang po ako nung unang point ko against him (Chow) po sabi ko po sa sarili ko aalagaan ko na po talaga yung score ko at di na po talaga ako mag papa-score sakanya,” narrated Tancontian.
The reigning University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) judo most valuable player (MVP) donning the golden colors of the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) dropped everything on the mats.
“Sa mabuting palad po na penalize siya after niya makascore ng 1-point kaya po naging 3-1 tapos may isang attack pa po ako na pumasok kaya naging 4-1 yung score,” he said.
“Nasa isip ko po talaga nung nakita ko na na yung oras sabi ko po akin na to kailangan matapos ko to ng ganito at manalo ng gold po,” he added. The rest was history.
Chino’s tears were for all the sacrifices, effort, and training which finally paid off.
“Siyempre po napaluha ako sa saya at sa sobrang nag payoff po kasi yung lahat ng hirap ng training pag bawas ng timbang pag kain ng mabuti tapos lalo na po dream ko po talagang mag gold medal sa SEA Games,” he shared.
What made him more emotional was to see his family at the sidelines who were about to witness their not so little boy crowned as the new champion in the division that mattered most.
