NATIONAL Capital Region (NCR) leg winners Marc Labog, Julius Gonzales and Jerome Aragones banner a big 48-player field seeing action in the 2015 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship national finals set this weekend at the SM Megamall.
Labog, an Adamson University standout, topped the seniors division of the NCR leg and towed runner-up McDominique Lagula of San Beda and Antonio Almodal of National University to the September 19 and 20 national finals, where they slug it out for top honors against the other top finishers of the Visayas, Northern and Southern Mindanao and Southern Tagalog legs.
All finalists made it this far following a three-month, five-leg regional circuit sponsored by Shell for the 23rd year.
“Mahirap po ang [competition] dahil expect natin na lahat ng magagaling na players nandito,” Labog told on Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at Shakey’s Malate, where he appeared with fellow players Crissa Cañada and Jesca Docena, along with tournament director Alexander Dinoy and Melanie Bularan, social investment and social performance manager of Shell.
Expected to crowd out Labog in the seniors event are Visayas topnotcher Adrian de la Cruz of Negros Oriental State University, No. 2 Jethro Esplanada of University of San Jose (USJ)-Recoletos, Northern Mindanao winner Allan Pason of USJ-Recoletos and runner-up Diego Abraham Claro of University of Cebu.
Also in the mix are Southern Mindanao champion John Ray Batucan of University of Mindanao, No. 2 Kenneth Norman Honculada of Ateneo de Cagayan-Xavier University, Batangas leg No. 1 Ricardo Batcho of City University of Pasay and second-placer Vince Medina of National University.
(With Ramon Bonilla)