INQUIRER Sports

THOSE who frown at the claim that Manny Pacquiao is one of the world?s greatest boxers should simply look back at the year that is soon to pass.

Like he did so many times in the past few years, Pacquiao was Philippine sport?s saving grace and a unifying figure for the country.

The first of his two conquests this year came in May when he destroyed two-time world champion Ricky Hatton in two quick rounds to capture the Englishman?s International Boxing Organization (IBO) junior welterweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada before a crowd of 16,000.

Fast, fierce and relentless, Pacquiao knocked out Hatton with his trademark left hook that landed flush on the Englishman?s face and sent him sprawling on the canvas.

The resounding victory buried concerns whether Pacquiao?s speed and explosiveness could prove enough to overcome the naturally heavier Hatton, who was also known for his knockout power.

?This was no surprise,? Pacquiao?s trainer Freddie Roach said of the knockout victory.

?I hope you enjoyed the show,? said Pacquiao, who landed 65 of 105 power punches in the short fight.

?I believe it?s a hard punch and when it landed I thought he won?t get up,? Pacquiao said of the punch that ended the fight.

Female pool shark

The euphoria over the Pacquiao victory barely subsided when Rubilen Amit showed that the Philippines? dominance in world pool was no longer limited to the men?s game.

The 27-year-old from Mandaue City, Cebu became the country?s first women?s world champion in the sport in July when she stunned two-time world champion Liu Shin-mei of Chinese Taipei, 10-4, in the Jbet.net World Women?s 10-Ball Championship at the SM North in Quezon City.

There was despair, however, in the sport closest to the heart of Filipinos.

The Powerade-Team Pilipinas quintet, made up of PBA superstars, failed to claim a slot to the World Championship in 2010 after finishing eighth in the Fiba-Asia qualifying tournament in Tianjin, China in August.

The Filipinos had breezed past inferior opposition in the Seaba tournament in Medan, Indonesia, in July but got their reality check when they lost six of their eight matches in the prestigious Jones Cup in Taipei.

Heading into the Fiba-Asia tournament, the team was brimming with optimism after the Filipino cagers landed in a relatively weak Group A with Korea, Japan and Sri Lanka.

The Filipinos survived the elimination round and reached the quarterfinals, where they came in as the heavy underdog in their showdown with Jordan, the team that handed them a lopsided defeat in the Jones Cup.

Despite a gallant effort fell short, the Filipinos dropped an 81-70 decision to Jordan, which quashed several late rallies to shut the door on the country?s World Championship bid.

?We will still look at it (the loss) in a positive way, because we feel that we are still improving,? said coach Yeng Guiao.

But a stunning 80-82 loss to South Korea sent the Philippines to eighth place, one rank better than its 2007 finish in Tokushima, Japan.

One of the members of the RP squad, Japeth Aguilar, however, later grabbed the limelight for his decision to spurn the PBA in favor of the Smart Gilas Pilipinas developmental squad, a team tasked by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to bring the country back to Olympic basketball action in 2012 in London.

?For the country?

Selected first by Burger King in the PBA Draft in August, the 6-foot-9 former Western Kentucky mainstay changed his mind after the Fiba-Asia tournament, insisting his ?desire to play for the country means more to me and my family than anything else.?

Aguilar was eventually persuaded to sign a one-year deal with the Whoppers and played one game for the PBA club, before he was traded to Talk ?N Text, owned by SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan, in exchange for future draft picks. TNT, as expected, lent Aguilar to Smart Gilas to put the issue to rest.

The country?s amateur golfers were also a source of pride during the middle of 2009 with Jonel Ababa fighting back from eight strokes down to win the 25th Sabah Amateur championship in Sabah, Malaysia. Carlos Philippe Winsett Palanca became the first Filipino champion of the US Kids Golf European Championship by ruling the boys? seven-and-under event in Kilspindie, Scotland.

Dottie Ardina topped the PNGA (Pacific Northwest Golf Association) Women?s Amateur Championship crown at the Arrowhead Golf Club in Ohio for her third triumph in the year including the FCWT Plantation Inn Open and RP national amateur title

Other victories

The first Asian Martial Arts Games saw the country winning two golds courtesy of taekwondo jin Jeffrey Figueroa and wushu artist Mary Jane Estimar, while the Filipino bets in the Asean Para Games accounted for 24 golds to finish fifth overall.

In a fitting follow-up to his knockout win in Manila in April, Nonito Donaire scored a 12-round unanimous decision over Rafael Concepcion to claim the interim World Boxing Association super flyweight crown in August at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Another Filipino boxer, Brian Viloria also kept his IBF light flyweight crown by outpointing Jesus Eribe of Mexico in Honolulu, Hawaii.

(To be continued)