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NAKHON
RATCHASIMA—Joey Barba did nothing much but sleep the
whole afternoon of Wednesday, when he stared at a
downhill gold medal in cycling’s mountain bike.
Who
wouldn’t? He was second in the seeding run by a mere 1.4
seconds to a Thai who knew the tough 1.9-km course at
the Khao Yai Thieng Lamtakong Dam like the palms of his
hands.
On
Thursday, just as the midmorning sun started to scorch
the eight downhillers all with devil-may-care attitudes,
Barba seemed like it was he who was homegrown, knowing
every rock and pebble and every nudge and bump down the
course everyone dared was the most difficult, if not the
scariest in the Southeast Asian Games and even the Asian
Games and Asian Championships.
JOEY BARBA tastes the most
important victory of his young career, as other RP
riders, including Marites Bitbit, hope to bag more gold.
Bitbit is set to defend her championship in women’s
mountain-bike cross-country Friday.
--NONIE
REYES
The
22-year-old from
Dumaguete
City
rode to history in Thursday’s finals, clocking three
minutes and 56.920 seconds. A few minutes later, he was
the 24th SEA Games best rider, winning for the
Philippines its first gold medal in the Games’ 24th
edition that formally started with perhaps the most
amazing opening ceremonies ever at the His Majesty the
King’s 80th Birthday Anniversary National Stadium near
the sprawling Suranaree University of Technology.
That
gold medal also came a day before the men’s basketball
team was pruned down to 12 by head coach Junel Baculi,
whose wards are to open the title-retention campaign
against
Cambodia
Friday.
“Sa
una, hindi talaga ako makapaniwala [about the gold
medal and being the country’s first to do so],” said
Barba, whose love for cycling—he did BMX, then mountain
bike’s cross-country and even motocross—has lured him
out of school, thus finishing only second year in high
school at the Negros Oriental High.
His
winning time was 2.460 seconds faster than Indonesian
silver medalist Popo Ariyo Sejati, who was third
Wednesday, and 3.940 better than the German-coached Thai
Sitichai Ketkaewmanee, the No. 1 in the seeding run.
Ariyo Sejati came into the Games owner of an Asian
Championships silver medal, lustier than the silver
medal Barba earned in the 2005 Philippine SEA Games in
Danao City.
 That
gold medal finally put vigor into a waning Team
Philippines, which could only clinch before Thursday
three silver and one bronze medals out of shooting—where
expectations were pegged at two golden mints. Later
Thursday, one bronze medal was churned out of sepak
takraw, with the women’s team finishing third in the
hoops.
“Good!”
exclaimed Jose Cojuangco Jr., the president of the
Philippine Olympic Committee, upon learning of the first
gold that was very much like in 2005, when the country’s
first gold medal that led to an unprecedented overall
championship came from a measurable sport—in long jump,
courtesy of an emotional Maristela Torres at the Rizal
Memorial Oval.
Oscar
“Boying” Rodriguez, the mountain-bike international
commissaire, was teary-eyed. He worked so hard for the
MTB riders—with national assistant coach Eboy Parr and
head coach Jomel Lorenzo—who he virtually adapted for
three months in
Danao City, where he
is a councilor. Rodriguez even accompanied the riders
who arrived here earlier than the rest on November 27.
Bert
Lina, the PhilCycling president, was ecstatic and hoped
for more gold medals out of cycling. “One gold in the
bag and, hopefully, more,” he said.
Marites
Bitbit defends her SEA Games gold medal in MTB’s women’s
cross-country beginning at
1 p.m. Friday. At 10 a.m. also Friday, Frederick Feliciano and
Eusebio Quiñones, silver and bronze medalists in 2005,
with Quiñones winning gold in Vietnam in 2003, and Nino
Surban, the juniors silver-medal winner in the 2004
Puerto Princesa Asians, take their shot at the men’s
cross-country gold medal in the same venue.
The gold
medal did not come easy for Barba, who is now P100,000
richer because of the guaranteed incentive for a gold
medal from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). A
silver medal in the SEA Games is worth P75,000 and a
bronze P30,000.
Barba
had to take the most dangerous route in the most
difficult part of the route carved out of a rocky hill.
He even had to shake off all the fear he has in his
heart in conquering the first five meters which are
virtually on a 90-degree angle.
“Inisip
ko na lang na kung kaya nila, bakit hindi ko makayanan,”
said Barba of his fearless ride. He also acknowledged
Quiñones, the most senior on the MTB team at 35, who
boosted his morale just before the finals.
“Kung
makukuha mo ang gold medal, maganda ’yan para sa
ating lahat. Kunin mo para maging inspirasyon naming
lahat,” Quiñones told Barba, son of Antonio, a
carpenter, and Ma. Estela, a housewife, and the second
in a brood of five.
And what
should he do with his P100,000? “Ibibigay ko sa nanay
ko para maumpisahang magpagawa ng bahay [in
Dumaguete],” said a beaming Barba, who met the
Philippine media, including NBN 4 and Sports Radio 918
at the Games’ Main Press Center in Suranaree University.
Barba
used a state-of-the-art Giant downhill bike worth
P250,000, which the PSC supplied. “Swerte rin hindi
bumigay ang bike,” said Barba, who could have landed
a medal in the Asian championships in China months ago
if not for a broken pedal that stopped him halfway
through his turn at the race.
The
Games heat up in other fronts Thursday, with seven gold
medals going up for grabs each in athletics and swinning
and three in wresting. James Ortega, Benjamin Guevarra
and Marlon Manalo will also shoot for the gold medal in
team snookers, as well as Pedro Quina and Daniel
Parantac in wushu’s men’s dullian. |
