San Juan Predators go for kill in Wesley So Cup

MANILA, Philippines – Now that it is within grasp, the San Juan Predators are looking to wrap up the elimination round of the Wesley So Cup by bagging the best record in the tournament, including the previous All-Filipino Cup. 

The goal, of course, is the championship. But that is three matches in the elimination round and hopefully, four more playdates en route to the title. 

For now, it’s one game at a time. Doubleheaders included. 

“The title is always at the top of our minds,” admitted San Juan team owner Michael Chua. “But the set expectations of the team is to end up in the top three of the conference. We missed that in the All-Filipino Cup. In the meantime, we’re just focused on securing the top position in the north by the end of the eliminations.”

The Predators are a robust 29-2, including a whopping 463 won points from all matches. 

Three teams were tied with a 30-4 record in the All-Filipino Cup — the Iloilo Kisela Knights, San Juan and eventual champions Laguna Heroes, who tallied 509 won points. 

The Predators finished second to Laguna last conference and lost in the semifinals to the Heroes, and to the Kisela Knights in the battle for third place. 

That is enough motivation for a stronger showing this time around.

“Several players made sacrifices (in this Wesley So Cup), bared Chua. “Because of Grandmaster Viktor Moskalenko in the lineup — and he can play either top-rated or the senior board — three players had no qualms about vacating their boards even if it meant affecting their personal statistics. These are GM Oliver Barbosa, Arden Reyes and IM Ricky de Guzman.”

Aligning Barbosa to the homegrown board (in the way Laguna has GM John Paul Gomez in a similar board) has given San Juan flexibility. 

“During the All-Filipino Cup, we realized that our being rigid in board assignments allowed opponents to research us ahead of games. Our being flexible has helped us this time.”

Moskalenko, the team’s Spanish import, has been a big boost to the team with Chua noting his engaging teammates in banter and encouragement. 

The Spaniard is one of three foreign players in the Top 25 player rankings of the Wesley So Cup, including Isabela’s Vietnamese WGM Mai Hung Nguyen (sixth) and Antipolo’s Indonesian IM Ronny Gunawan (13th).

Moskalenko is ranked 17th with a 40-6-10 record.

“Our leads are still Hubert and Oliver,” emphasized Chua, who also in the same breath pointed out to WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda, who has stepped up her game.

Chua cited a couple of incidents that illustrate San Juan’s unity and team spirit. 

“During our game against Camarines last June 9, all we needed was a draw on the last board playing (Moskalenko versus GM Mark Paragua). Viktor was winning and slightly ahead on time but Mark went on a time attack. Viktor could not click fast enough to keep the advantage. We ended up losing that game and Viktor apologized to the team afterwards. But in the group chat, everyone was deliberately trying to be light and easy. Everyone managed to joke that ‘senior’ Viktor could not click fast enough.”

The second is when Moskalenko said during a team meeting, “My opponent used the Budapest Gambit line from my own book (Moskalenko won).”

The Spaniard ended it with a “jeje,” which drew laughter from his teammates.

With the playoffs approaching, the San Juan Predators hope they can — well, not have the last laugh — smile at the end of it all should they reach the goal they set out for themselves.