BACOLOD CITY—While a prized find is expected to make it to the national gymnastics squad, one former member is blazing the comeback trail.
The Filipino-American gymnast touted to be a shoo-in for the national squad looks apparently good as advertised, wowing the crowd and getting the judges’ nods to complete a seven-gold sweep in the Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission National Games here on Tuesday.
Jean Nathan Monteclaro, who along with twin brother Christian had earlier written the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines about their credentials and signifying their desire to join the national team, was given the top scores in the men’s all-around on top of the gold medals in the floor exercise, pommel horse, vault, parallel bars, high bar and rings on Monday at the Colegio San Agustin Gym.
The 20-year-old from University of California-Berkeley was dominant in each event, but was most impressive in pommel horse where he was given a 12.4 score against Fortunato Abad’s 5.325 and Reyland Capillian’s 5.1.
He was also given double-digit marks in the high bar and rings with the second and third placers failing to impress. The Californian won the high bar with a score of 11.15, while Capillian was given 6.4 and Jay Franz Villegas 5.85. In the rings, Monteclaro had 13.35, while Villegas got a 9.05 and Capillian 8.8.
Former national gymnast Anna Cruz won five gold medals and is looking to make a grand return to the international scene 10 years after her team clinched bronze in the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
The five-foot-one Cruz suffered an anterior cruciate ligament before the 2003 SEA Games and was forced to drop out of the national squad the following year but showed she still has what it takes by taking the all-around title on top of wins in the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.
Cruz was scored 5.37 in the uneven bars, beating Amanda Alejandrino (4.82) and Desiree Saldana (4.325), en route to a 46.97 for the all-around title.
Alejandrino and Saldana placed second and third with 39.22 and 36.05, respectively.
Jean Nathan noted that a sweep may have been impossible had his twin been able to see action. Christian is out with a torn ligament in his right ankle.
“He [Christian] is very good in half of the events and I’m good in the other half so it would have been very hard to beat him,” said Jean Nathan. “It is an honor for me and my brother to come over here.”
Gymnastics officials said even though Christian failed to compete, he is still a shoo-in for the national squad that will vie in the SEA Games in Indonesia later this year.
Nationals dominate
Arniel Ferrera didn’t have to exert too much effort in reaffirming his status as the country’s top thrower.
And although he was way short of his national hammer throw record of 61.62 meters with a 57.55-meter heave, he still emerged unscathed in the competitions at the Panaad Park.
Karl Christian Francisco of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Athletics team was a far second with a 45.93-meter throw, while further behind was Jerro Perater, who came up with 39.86 meters.
Year 2009 national open winner Robin Tuliao shaved three-tenths of a second off his personal best with a 14.8-second run in the 110-meter hurdles, but it wasn’t enough as Kota Kinabalu’s Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian clocked 14.1 in winning the gold medal. Emmanuel de los Angeles took bronze in 15.5 seconds. Junior hurdles star Patrick Unso crossed the finish line in 14.3 seconds to edge Robert Francisco (14.80) and Emmanuel de los Angeles (15.50).
Jaycel Cabaguena won the girls event in 15.9 seconds, well ahead of Lea Casilihan (16.6) and Catherine Costan (16.7).
Julius Nierras also joined in the nationals’ celebration, winning the 400-meter run in 48.56 seconds. Fellow Air Force athlete Christian Archan Bagsit bagged the silver in 49.03 seconds, while John Rey Bardos of UAAP Athletics clocked 50.18 in clinching the bronze.
Kiezel Pedrina of Laguna was a clear winner in the women’s 400 meters, clocking 58.12 seconds, while none managed to get close or even break the one-minute mark, with Sheena Gacayan of Cebu finishing in 1:03:74 for the silver and Gelie Ann Solis of Far Eastern University in 1:04.81 for the bronze.
Schedule woes
THE event schedules remained a problem through day three of the Games.
No full event schedule has been released, which meant sports fans and others following the Games are not informed of the big events.
National footballers, for one, were apparently set to clash with the boys of Bacolod in a tantalizing futsal match on Tuesday but little has been made to drum up the big match.
But according to Games officials, the problem lies with the national sports associations and not with the organizers. Most of the NSAs have yet to submit their schedule of events to the secretariat.
On opening day on Sunday, several athletes were clueless about their schedules and got their first glimpse of the event lineup only when media men showed them a copy.
The PSC, commissioner Jose Luis Gomez said, is helpless about the situation.
“We asked the NSAs as early as last week to give us the schedule but as of last night, many NSAs still don’t have a schedule,” he said on Tuesday. “There’s not much we can do…the PSC organizes the games but the conduct of the tournament is still the responsibility of the NSAs.”
