Philippine sports in the year about to come to a close began and ended in amazing feats ? in the fairways in South Africa and the glitzy arena of Las Vegas ? brilliant victories whose impact far outweighed the heartbreaks and frustrations other Filipino athletes suffered, notably in the Beijing Olympic debacle.
The RP duo of Dorothy Delasin and Jennifer Rosales, whose careers in the ladies pro tour have been in the doldrums of late, flashed superb forms to humble an elite cast of 17 teams in Sun City, South Africa, sparking a decent run of triumphs by Pinoy golfers on international fronts.
And with the rhythmic chants of ?Manny, Manny, Manny!? in the confines of the rich and poor, in darkened cinemas and old town plazas and before a global TV audience, Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao bludgeoned Oscar De la Hoya for eight rounds at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas early December.
The Filipino megastar?s total domination of the 10-time world champion, battered, bloodied and rooted on his stool before the ninth round, completed a sort of personal trilogy of triumphs in the year, with the ?dream mismatch? easily becoming the No.1 choice of The STAR?s top 10 sports stories in 2008.
There were other memorable feats ? boxer Harry Ta?amor?s stirring comeback from a humiliating defeat in Beijing to snatch the gold in the World Cup in Moscow and Angelo Que?s pulsating win that kept the RP Open crown at home.
Then there were the collegiate cage wars waged and won in decisive fashions. The Ateneo Blue Eagles swept archrivals La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP finale before a sea of fans in green and blue and the San Beda Red Lions? record three-peat over the Jose Rizal Bombers in the NCAA.
The STAR?s top 10 stories:
1. Pacman: World?s No.1 pound-for-pound fighter
In a span of nine months, Pacquiao climbed the ring three times against the very best, coming out victorious in three weight divisions as the whole world watched.
On March 15, the 29- year-old Pacquiao defeated the boxer who almost beat him five years ago, carving out a close split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for the WBC super-featherweight crown.
It took Pacquiao a little over three months to return to the ring, and face the bigger, heavier David Diaz for the WBC lightweight championship. It was a division that has become the graveyard of many a Filipino boxer.
No other local fighter, not even the great Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde, and no Asian boxer at that, has ever won the world?s 135-pound crown, and a ninth-round knockout of the Olympian from Chicago made Pacquiao bigger than ever.
Then came his victory over De la Hoya six months later in the fight billed as the ?Dream Match? and to most experts it was a sheer mismatch ? Dela Hoya being the favored one due to his four-inch height and six-inch reach advantage. In terms of weight, he was the heavier fighter, too.
But from the opening bell, Pacquiao was all over the older Dela Hoya. He landed the first punch of their welterweight contest, and in all of the eight rounds threw more and landed more than what was expected of him.
Pacquiao silenced Dela Hoya, and his critics as well, with a relentless hell-for-leather assault, and by the eighth round, it looked like boxing?s Golden Boy was ready to go.
But there?s just too much pride in him, and instead of answering the bell for the ninth round, Dela Hoya took the advice of his cornermen, walked toward Pacquiao and took the loss.
It was a triumph that will be long remembered, a sensational victory that enhanced Pacquiao?s stature as the world?s pound-for-pound champion, the most exciting boxer on the planet today, and probably the greatest of his era.
His three fights this year netted Pacquiao an estimated windfall of more than $20 million dollars ? at least. He took in $3 million each for facing Marquez and Diaz, and five times more for the Dela Hoya match.
2 . Heartbreak in Beijing
Fifteen Filipino athletes came into the biggest sporting arena in Beijing in pursuit of the country?s first Olympic gold medal. But like the ones before them, they came home empty-handed in what could go down as the worst participation by a Philippine delegation in the quadrennial meet.
In fact, nobody hurdled the first round of their respective events with Eric Ang, tipped to contend for at least a bronze medal, finishing tied for last in the 35-man trap shooting competition.
Mark Javier dropped out right in the first round of archery while weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz proved too raw to provide some spark.
The swimmers did break several national records, but as expected, no one advanced to the next round against world-class field.
Ta?amor, the delegation?s lone boxer whose silver medal finish in the World Championship netted him a berth in Beijing, made a shocking exit right in his first bout, losing to an unheralded fighter from Ghana.
Ta?amor, 31, however, redeemed himself at the end of the year when he bagged the lightfly gold medal in the World Cup, beating top Cuban fighter Yampier Hernandez, 15-7.
Taekwondo?s Antoinette Rivero and Tshomlee Go also bowed to superior rivals, also in the opening round.
Willy Wang actually claimed a gold medal in the wushu event but it didn?t reflect in the official medal tally, the Chinese martial art being a special tournament held during the Olympics.
3. RP lady golfers rule World Cup
Fil-Am Dorothy Delasin and Jennifer Rosales actually started the year for RP sports on a high note as they topped the World Cup in South Africa in January.
The close win augured well for RP golf with Angelo Que humbling a tough international field in the Philippine Open in April and Dottie Ardina winning her third crown in the Junior World in San Diego in July.
With Delasin making crucial birdie putts in the closing holes of the better-ball format, Team RP shot a seven-under par 65 and beat South Korea by two strokes in a thrilling finale in Sun City.
The triumph was sweet as it came three years after the pair of seasoned LPGA Tour campaigners fell short in their bid in the inaugural staging of the event in 2005, finishing joint second with Korea behind eventual winner Japan.
It was also a big morale boost for the pair, especially for Rosales, whose game took a downswing following a spate of injuries and poor form the last two seasons on the LPGA circuit.
4. Blue Eagles soar high
Ateneo finally ended years of disappointment in the UAAP, sweeping archrival La Salle in their best-of-three series to snare the coveted crown before a roaring crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Blue Eagles relied heavily on their vaunted defense to finally win it all and complete a two-game sweep of the finals.
The title romp underscored the Eagles? excellent performance throughout the campaign, dominating the double round elims with a 13-1 (win-loss) mark, bundling out the UE Warriors in the Final Four before stamping their class over the Archers.
It was Ateneo?s fourth crown in the country?s premier varsity league after victories in 1987, 1988 and 2002, the last time they faced the Archers in the finals.
The win also snapped a four-year wait for coach Norman Black and saw the emergence of Rabeh Al- Hussaini as the new star of varsity caging, earning the MVP honors.
5. Que keeps RP Open crown at home
Four years after scoring a breakthrough win as a pro, Que captured his second title by winning the Philippine Open championship, outduelling Australian Gavin Flint in a nerve-wracking backside battle and frustrating Danny Chia of Malaysia with a closing one-over par 73 for a one-shot win at Wack Wack?s east course in April.
Que actually thwarted charges from at least four rivals in a thriller of a finale, chipped to within a foot for par on the 72nd hole for a 283 total as he kept the coveted Open plum at home and snapped a four-year drought on the Asian Tour after capturing the inaugural Vietnam Masters in 2004.
6. So young, so talented
Although the country produced a pair of grandmasters in the year about to end, teenage GM Wesley So remained RP chess? biggest draw with his impressive performances, including a victory in the tough Dubai Open in April.
So, who became the world?s youngest GM at 14 in December last year and seventh in history, also outclassed Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto in a head-to-head duel, 4-2, in May and topped the Battle of the Grandmasters he highlighted with victories over GMs Joey Antonio and Bong Villamayor and a draw with GM Eugene Torre to snare P200,000.
Three months later, he copped the gold medal on Board One in the World Under-16 Chess Olympiad in Mersin, Turkey for the second straight year, powering the Filipinos to a strong third place finish.
He was unbeaten in eight games while drawing two to finish with a solid nine-point effort.
These feats proved enough to overshadow the achievements of Gonzales and Gomez, who became the country?s ninth and 10th GMs, respectively.
Gonzales accomplished the feat in January following a strong performance in the inaugural leg of the ASEAN Masters Chess Circuit in Tarakan, Indonesia while Gomez achieved the feat last month after he scored six points on four wins, four draws and a setback in the 38th World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany.
7. San Beda gets Lion?s share
Nigerian Sam Ekwe made sure he would deliver the goods for San Beda on his final year with the team he previously steered to back-to-back titles in the NCAA.
San Beda turned what had appeared to be a classic do-or-die into a ghastly rout, foiling Jose Rizal U?s own date with destiny with an 82-65 romp in their sudden death and setting up a dynasty in the country?s oldest collegiate league with a third straight championship before a record crowd in September.
The Red Lions went to Ekwe in the early going then displayed their championship poise and experience to complete the three-peat while frustrating the Bombers bid to end a long title drought.
8. Cojuangco secures 2nd POC term
Jose ?Peping? Cojuangco Jr. of equestrian gained a fresh four-year mandate as president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, edging shooting?s Art Macapagal, 21-19, in one of the closest elections in the history of the country?s Olympic body.
Cojuangco drew 21 of the 40 votes, including one from International Olympic Committee representative to RP Frank Elizalde, to become the POC?s 14th president.
There were no protests despite some legal threats like an injunction in the run-up to the polls as the elections went on smoothly.
Cojuangco said with a fresh mandate, his first priority is to look into the leadership disputes that have been besetting several national sports associations (NSAs), vowing to show the way to keep the POC family as closely-knit as before.
As a true sportsman, Macapagal, a veteran of the 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal Olympics, shook hands with Cojuangco after the last vote was counted.
9. Sta. Lucia ends long PBA title drought
Sta. Lucia Realty snapped its long search for the coveted PBA All-Filipino plum when it upended Purefoods Tender Juicy, 100-88, in a gripping Game Seven duel at the Araneta Coliseum on March 2.
Kelly Williams came back strong from a mediocre nine-point showing in Game Six and the rest of the Realtors fought tenaciously as the Robles-Santos franchise won the All-Filipino championship for the first time since joining the league in 1993.
Along the way, the Realtors recorded many other ?firsts? for the ballclub ? an eight-game streak, 12 wins in the eliminations and automatic entry into the semifinals. Sta. Lucia posted a 20-12 win-loss record in the entire run of the tourney.
10. Donaire retains IBF crown
Although it paled in comparison with Pacquiao?s achievements, Nonito Donaire Jr.?s successful retention of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight crown also drew praises from the discerning public.
Flaunting the skills of a seasoned campaigner, Donaire, the 2007 knockout artist of the year, dominated Moruti Mthalane, scoring a sixth round stoppage of the South African to retain his title at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas in November.
The victory was Donaire?s fourth straight via knockout in the last two years, hiking his win-loss record to 20-1 with 13 KOs with the Fil-Am fighter, groomed as the next Pacquiao, looking for No. 5 against Fernando Montiel next year.
But Donaire will have to relinquish his IBF flyweight crown to face the reigning WBO superflyweight titlist in a big March 15 card that also features the Brian Viloria-Ulises Solis IBF lightflyweight clash at the Araneta Coliseum.
If Donaire dethrones Montiel, he will likely move on to battle the winner of the Vic Darchinyan-Jorge Arce bout on Feb. 7 for the WBC, WBA and IBF 115-pound unified championship. – With Abac Cordero, Nelson Beltran, Joey Villar
