Central Visayas stays at fourth

Legazpi City, Albay, Philippines — Central Visayas grabbed five more golds as they remained at fourth place in the overall standings after Day 4 of the 59th Palarong Pambansa yesterday at the Albay Sports and Tourism Complex inside Bicol University here.

Central Visayas now has 15 golds, 17 silvers and 16 bronze medals. Defending champion National Capital Region zoomed further at top with 42 golds, 24 silvers and 23 bronze medals, while Western Visayas climbed to second place with a 23-20-17 gold-silver-bronze tally. Calabarzon landed at third with 23-19-21 medal count.

After a medal shutout in the poomsae event, Region VII’s taekwondo team bounced back with two golds, four silvers and six bronzes in the kyorugi  led by gold medalists Veronica Garces and Zozen Prajes.

Mayn Coran, Princess Maegan Parka, Loralee Natividad and Michael Noel Boncales were the silver medalists as Warren Jan Rama, Sal Louis Estrada along with elementary bets in Mary Jocelyn Syllanto and Charles Laurence Labiste contributed bronze medal each.

Sixteen-year-old Engelbert Avenido also delivered a gold medal for Region VII after dominating the high jump competition with his 1.94m mark.

Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu’s Rogelio Miguel Tremedal gave Central Visayas another gold in archery. Tremedal garnered 1,257 points for the gold medal, followed by Zamboanga’s Josiah Vivero (1,253) and Northern Mindanao’s Darryll Maaba (1,220).

Former CVIRAA top archer Nicole Tagle who now represents Negros Island Region also showcased her wares winning a gold and two silvers.

At the pool, Raven Faith Alcoseba ended her bid with a silver medal via the 200m backstroke with 2:33.30 clocking. Central Visayas got additional silver and bronze in gymnastics through the secondary and elementary men’s artistic team.

Over at the Legazpi City’s park, Eduard Jimenez is the last man standing for Central Visayas in boxing after four of his teammates got eliminated. Jimenez defeated Davao region’s Myrwen Abelle via unanimous decision under the light mosquito weight to keep his medal hope alive.

In basketball, University of the Visayas-powered Central Visayas moved to the semifinal round after upending Northern Mindanao, 81-79.

Central Visayas’ girls elementary volleyball squad also barged into the semis with a lopsided win over ARMM, 25-5, 25-7.

Aside from basketball and volleyball, Central Visayas also got another semis stint via the secondary football after Don Bosco Technology Center dumped Northern Mindanao, 5-0. — (FREEMAN)