FOR most of the year, Philippine sports was a blast, thanks to a few young men—and a girl barely in her teens—whose feats made the rest of the world sit up and take notice.
Pro boxers Manny Pacquiao and Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista, billiard ace Ronnie Alcano and world-class young golfer Dottie Ardina were some of the few sports heroes that made the headlines and grabbed the attention of keen sports fans from all over the globe.
In the Asian level, amateur fighters Violito Payla and Joan Tipon, 9-Ball specialist Antonio Gabica and wushu champion Rene Catalan struck for gold in the 15th Asian Games in Doha after much struggle, as the Philippines improved its golden haul to four from the three it won four years ago in Busan.
And although the pluses outweighed the minuses, sports still suffered some black-eye, mostly because politics—and politicians disguised as sportsmen—continue to dominate the landscape, dirtying what could have been a banner year.
The Pacman show
Pacquiao, the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world today, cemented his stature as king of the featherweights when he knocked out Mexican icon Erik “El Terrible” Morales on Nov. 19, in the third round of the third and last fight of their famed boxing trilogy.
The victory made Pacquiao several millions richer and his fame went up several notches. But fame has its price and the Pacman must pay up, sooner or later.
Embroiled in a bitter contract dispute, Pacquiao must choose between Bob Arum, his current promoter, and Oscar de la Hoya, with whom he signed a contract before he stepped in the ring against the Mexican.
Pacquiao’s decision in the coming days will impact on his boxing career as this will determine whether he gets to fight again Marco Antonio Barrera, the World Boxing Council featherweight champion and De la Hoya’s fair-haired boy.
An emerging boxing icon
Following in the footsteps of the Pacman—minus the contract problems—is Bautista, the hard-punching KO artist from Bohol.
Early this month, Bautista pummeled Brazilian super bantamweight champion Giovanni Andrade en route to a fourth-round stoppage, his 16th in 21 undefeated fights.
Fighting under Dela Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, Bautista’s future looked as golden as he will be lined up for bigger fights that could only mean more money and fame.
New 9-Ball king
Lingering behind the shadows of Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Alcano finally came on his own after ruling the 2006 World Pool Championships at the Philippine International Convention Center last month.
Alcano won the world 9-Ball title in style, outclassing Germany’s Ralf Souquet, 17-11, to clinch the title and the $100,000 cash purse. With the victory, Alcano’s name will now be mentioned in the same breath as that of his idol Reyes and Bustamante.
Whiz kid of the golf course
From the boxing ring to the billiard halls and onto the fairways, Filipinos have had their share of triumphs.
The year 2006 was especially memorable for the 13-year-old Ardina, who won two world titles and four Asian crowns in succession.
Ardina began the year by winning the Asia-Pacific Championship in Singapore, and another Asian title by clinching the Asean Golf Championship.
In the world stage, the long-hitting Ardina topped the 12-under division of the Callaway Junior Championship in July and completed a grand slam in the US Kids tournament in San Diego, California the following month.
She also won the Hong Kong Ladies’ Open in October against an older, more experienced field.
Asian Games medalists
Expectations were high in the Asiad, especially because the Philippines won the overall title in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.
But lack of funds for training and exposure and the cold weather in Doha worked against the Filipino athletes, who nevertheless did their best against the best in the region.
In the end, after a week had passed in the Asiad, Filipinos finally won the precious golds in boxing from Payla and Tipon; in billiards courtesy of Gabica and wushu from Catalan.
Gabica, who missed a possible double when he lost in the 8-Ball final against a Japanese, won the 9-Ball gold at the expense of compatriot Jeff de Luna.
The result in the Asiad clearly showed that Filipinos indeed excel in combat sports such as boxing and wushu (although taekwondo fell short), while re-establishing the fact that we are unbeatable in the pool.
Basketball in limbo
Back at home, basketball made news not on the playing court but off it as it continues to float in limbo despite genuine efforts from some sector to unify basketball leaders.
A series of events that began with the signing of the joint communiqu? in Tokyo, followed by the resignation of Joey Lina as president of the Basketball Association of the Philippines, brought the controversy back in the limelight.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada replaced Lina and after a series of meetings, the senator agreed to become the chairman of the newly formed Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, with telecommunications magnate Manny Pangilinan assuming the presidency.
The verdict is still out, however, on whether the Fiba, which suspended the Philippines from joining Fiba-sanctioned tournaments since last year, will finally lift the ban on the Philippines and agree to replace the BAP with the SBP as the new basketball federation for the country.
Still in amateur basketball, San Beda College bagged its first-ever National Collegiate Athletic Association crown in 29 years, while the University of Santo Tomas Tigers ended a long title drought by winning the University Athletic Association of the Philippines crown at the expense of the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Harbour Centre, meanwhile, also won its first title in the Philippine Basketball League.
In the Philippine Basketball Association, the Purefoods Chunkee Giants shocked Red Bull, 4-2, to grab the 2006 Gran Matador Philippine Cup title before a huge crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Chunkee Giants also rode the coming of age of former University of the East star James Yap, who was named league Most Valuable Player.
But the happiest member of the winning squad was Purefoods’ elder statesman Jun Limpot, who won his first PBA crown after 13 years of frustrations.
More welcome news for the league: TV ratings and live gate attendance have rebounded after previous seasons soured by the drug testing and Fil-sham brouhaha.
TV viewers tuned in to the improved ABC-5 coverage. There was better overall production but the biggest reason fans watched the TV coverage was ABC-5’s decision to tap more former basketball players to reinforce their thin talent pool in the broadcasters’ booth.
Next up for the PBA—a state-of-the-art PBA arena to be located either at the sprawling vacant lot near the Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon City, near the Quezon Memorial Circle or in the Global City in Taguig.
Things have never been better in the country’s only professional basketball league in the country.
Busy motorsports year
Overall, 2006 was also a busy year for motorsports, but the same old faces and some new ones dominated the track.
Glenn Aguilar won his 10th Rider of the Year in motocross, while his son McLean won the same honor for the 50cc (7 years below) to become the first father-son team to win the singular honor.
Jolet Jao also won his 10th title in superbike; Jody Coseteng won his ninth Driver of the Year plum in the touring car, while Mico Buncio topped the 400cc superbike.
The Maningding siblings continue to dominate the slalom and autocross events, with Uly topping the production class of the touring car meet.
In karting, Matteo Guidicelli won his second Karter of the Year award, while in 4×4, JR Bartolome won the plum in the Luzon Federation.
