Lariba duels Puerto Rican in opener

RIO DE JANEIRO – Ian Lariba found a new source of motivation as she headed to the table tennis training venue of the 2016 Rio Olympics on a cold Friday morning here.

Inside the official shuttle bus, the 21-year-old Lariba broke news to chef-de-mission Jose Romasanta that the draw for the preliminary round on Aug. 6 is out.

The native of Cagayan de Oro and now student of De La Salle University sounded excited that now she has a named opponent to prepare for.

“It’s better knowing who you’re up against,” she said.

Her opponent on opening day of the table tennis event that drew 86 entries each in the men’s and women’s side is Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico.

Diaz is only 15 turning 16 in October. But it doesn’t mean she can be pushed around because she’s ranked No. 80 in the world of women’s table tennis.

Lariba is ranked No. 297.

Lariba is not at all clueless on her opponent, who won the gold in the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival, and currently ranked No. 9 among the top 20 junior (18 below) players.

Like Lariba, Diaz is the first athlete to represent her country in the table tennis competitions of the Summer Olympics. A lot is at stake in their match.

It takes place at 12 noon (11 p.m. in Manila) on Aug. 6 or the day after the opening ceremony where Lariba will carry the Philippine flag.

“I’ve seen her play although I haven’t played her. She’s younger but has more experience in international tournaments. She joins the World Tour. She is right-handed,” said Lariba.

“She’s more active than me when it comes to international tournaments,” added the Filipina netter, who started playing table tennis when she was nine.

Lariba said in the coming days, she and her coach, a silver medalist in the 1999 World Championships, will study more of Diaz.

“We will see more of her on the Internet. But I’ve seen her play. We’re now studying her game,” said Lariba, a native of Cagayan de Oro.

In table tennis, winners in the preliminary rounds will advance to the round-of-32 where the seeded players are waiting. The finals is set Aug. 10.

South Korean Mi Sook Kwon acts as Lariba’s coach and mother figure. Inside the Athletes Village, Lariba is rarely seen without Sook by her side.

Three other Pinoy athletes will see action the day after the opening ceremony.

They are swimmer Jessie Khing Lacuna in the men’s 400-m freestyle at around noontime, and boxers Rogen Ladon in the light-flyweight (49 kg) and lightweight (60 kg) divisions.

Ladon and Suarez, who have high hopes of winning a medal here, may either see action in the morning or afternoon session.

Lacuna has been training twice a day here along with Jasmine Alkhaldi, who is entered in the women’s 100-m freestyle.

Ladon and Suarez arrived the other day with coach Nolito Velasco from Las Vegas, where they trained for a month, and visited the fitness center Friday to loosen up.

“Wala naman jetlag. Konting pagod lang (No jetlag. Just a little tired),” said Velasco of the trip that took them less than 20 hours from Las Vegas via Houston onward to Rio.