RONNIE Alcano?s triumphant run in the World Pool Championships once again proved the Filipino?s indomitable spirit and world-class skills.
Life, they say, is sometimes stranger than fiction. Here was a man who secured the very last seat to the knockout Round of 64 of the WPC emerging ahead of everybody else.
Alcano?s victory reminds us of a teaching in the Holy Scriptures that the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. It also displayed the triumph of spirit over poverty and adversity as Alcano, a gradeschool dropout who came from a poor family in Calamba City, proved that Filipinos can excel in any sport if given the right breaks and sufficient support by both government and the private sector.
In the finals of the WPC against German machine Ralf Souquet, Alcano put an exclamation mark to his amazing run with a 17-11 triumph to secure billiards? Holy Grail and the $100,000 (P5 million) prize that went with it.
The victory also catapulted the toothless Alcano (shades of Efren ?Bata? Reyes, huh) to superstar status along the likes of the Magician Reyes, Francisco ?Django? Bustamante and Alex ?The Lion? Pagulayan.
The Standard Today Sports Section would like to believe that Alcano?s triumph in pool?s grandest stage is just the start of a better things to come for Philippine sports.
There is the 2006 Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup Open and Chess Challenge, which features the country?s brightest chess minds against the world?s greatest woodpushers.
Today, Bobby Pacquiao, younger brother of Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao, takes on a tough Mexican hombre Hector Velazquez, the same journeyman his sibling demolished in six rounds last year.
On Sunday, Manny Pacquiao, a national treasure to millions of Filipinos, plunges into his third match against legendary Mexican champion Erik ?The Terrible One? Morales. The Pacman will be gunning for a victory that will re-affirm his status as the world?s greatest boxer, pound for pound, and unite a nation embroiled in political and economic turmoil.
And from Dec. 1 to 15, a crack Philippine delegation will pit guts and skills against the best athletes of the region in the 2006 Doha, Qatar Asian Games. The Asiad is the best opportunity of the Filipino athletes to prove that their capture of the overall championship in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games was no fluke and a target of five or more golds will make sports officials extremely happy.
In times of political turmoil and economic uncertainties, we always turn to our sports heroes for inspiration, and they, turn to our prayers for guidance.
Say a prayer for our chessers, the Pacquiao brothers and our athletes marching all the way to Doha. Their gift of glory is the best Christmas present we will ever receive this Yuletide season.
