Archers seal N Oriental overall title

Dumaguete City – Negros Oriental snared 47 gold medals in archery and overtook Negros Occidental and Iloilo Province to claim overall supremacy at the close of the Visayas Qualifying Games of the third Philippine Olympic Festival yesterdaty at the Perdices Sports Complex here.

Josh Aaron Zamora captured five golds to spark the gold rush that catapulted the host province headed by Gov. Emilio Macias from far third to the overall title with 96 gold, 140 silver and 118 bronze medals.

Zamora reigned supreme in the FITA 900 – 15m, 12m and 10m -as he underscored Negros Oriental’s domination of the sport, which produced four Olympians including Jennifer Chan and Beijing-bound Mark Javier.

Anna Daniela Paraiso snared mints in 200m individual medley, 100m and 200m backstroke and 50m and 100m freestyle to cop five of the 17 they gained at the pool.

Chessers Joseph Tubog, Segismar Junaico, Rayelynn Posadas and Rudell Siglos likewise produced gold medal performances in boys’ 14-under, boys’ 20-under, open women and open men, respectively.

Negros Occidental, which led this five-day meet organized by POF and Philippine Olympic Committee chair going into yesterday’s finale, managed to basket some golds in swimming, archery and table tennis but its output for the day was not enough to retain the lead and win the crown. It finished second with a 71-51-31 gold-silver-bronze count.

The Philippine STAR, Globe, Pagcor, Summit Water, AMA and Creativity Lounge are backing the event used as a dry run to Negros Oriental’s hosting of next year’s Palarong Pambansa.

In table tennis, Beverly Paulma snatched the golds in 14-and-under and 17-and-under divisions while John Paul Gubaton and Danilo Abonales booked theirs in 14-and-under and 17-and-under.

The only gold Negros Occidental didn’t win in the sport was bagged by Gerves Española of Bohol and Sangria Maputi of Negros Oriental in the 20-and-under.

In powerlifting, Ormoc scooped up five of the seven staked in the event thanks to wins by Anita Koykka (52 kg), Nilo Hindog (67.5kg), Lemuel Lazarte (75kg), Reynaldo Lagura (90kg) and Muriel Mancao (110kg).

Cebu’s Christina Redira (48kg) and Negros Occidental’s Chris Javier (125kg) took the other two table tennis golds.

Iloilo Province, which was at close second spot going into the last day, had a 66-31-23 collection and dropped from close second to third place.