Sports Eye
Disruptive Pepeng
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
I WAS not able to make my article last week because of Typhoon Pepeng. And I am sure you already know what happened to us here in central and eastern Pangasinan. My hometown Mangaldan was one of the hardest hit with 11 deaths and some are still missing until now, aside from crops and infrastructures destroyed. I am one of the thousands of victims of Pepeng, which, as far as I can recall, was the biggest and the most disruptive flood ever. The typhoon even sent me to the hospital, maybe because of the mental stress, fearing that my one story house will submerge, like what happened to houses in Metro Manila during Typhoon Ondoy. With God’s grace, it did not. But I will never forget Pepeng.
It was afternoon of October 8 when rain started to pour. But despite the rainstorm, I still motored to the Divine Word Academy gym and watched the first game of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL). It was the zone 1 qualifying match between Pangasinan’s champion, the Lyceum Northwestern University (LNU) Dukes, and the visiting University of Northern Philippines (UNP) of Vigan City, champion of Ilocos Sur.
After the game where the Dukes of Atty. Gonzalo Duque amazingly orchestrated a 17-6 salvo in the last three minutes to score a come-from-behind victory, 101-90, I didn’t bother to watch the second game between both visitors Lyceum of Subic and University of Baguio. I was already anticipating that the heavy downpour being engineered by Pepeng might hamper my voyage home. Two hours later, I learned from Seato Gonimil, event project director, that the Zambaleños won, 78-71. And I am glad that I did not stay on for the second match as I could have been trapped on the road going to Mangaldan, like many other motorists.
Gonimil, after postponing the second day matches indefinitely for obvious reasons, said that whoever of the four wins the tourney will represent zone 1 in Manila. And if lucky, they will be included in the so-called “sweet 16” group that will battle with each other for the national championship.
Pepeng also disrupted the Open Rapid Chess Championship, which was supposed to be held on October 10-11 at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center in capital town Lingayen.
The mental tourney sponsored by Gov. Amado Espino. Jr. has been reset to October 24-25, in the same venue, according to provincial information officer Butch Velasco.
Since all the western towns of Pangasinan, starting from Labrador, were spared by Pepeng‘s rains, the scheduled PRISAA Pangasinan 1 meet pushed through last Monday. The one-day event for elementary and secondary schools was sponsored by DepEd with Alaminos City as the host led by Mayor Hernani Braganza and Vice Mayor Teofilo Humilde, Jr.
The postponed National Criterium Grand Prix, also because of Pepeng, will be held on October 18 in Luneta. The “Pitaki Boyz”, the defending team champions will spearhead the annual event. Individual titlist Ericson Obosa of Manaoag will skipper our local boys. Good luck to them.
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