PBA All Star: Barroca ends Villanueva’s reign as Obstacle Challenge champ

By: Celest R. Flores - 10 years ago

Basketball fans had non-stop fun on Friday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena where the 2014 PBA All-Star Weekend festivities were held. Mark Barroca ended Jonas Villanueva’s five-year reign as Obstacle Challenge king while three-time champion Mark Macapagal waxed hot all night to reclaim the three-point shootout crown and Meralco’s Rey Guevarra and San Mig Coffee’s Justin Melton shared the distinction as 2014 PBA All-Star Slam Dunk kings. Video by INQUIRER.net’s Celest Flores/edited by Ryan Leagogo

MANILA, Philippines — Mark Barroca ended Jonas Villanueva’s five-year reign as Obstacle Challenge king on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena during the 2014 PBA All-Star Festivities.

Mark Barroca as the new PBA Obstacle King. Photo by Nuki Sabio/PBA

Barroca, who topped eight competitors in the elimination round with 31.4 seconds, snagged the crown after clocking in at 29.8 seconds in the final round.

“I knew what I had to do because I experienced this last year, it was a matter of execution,” Barroca said after the win. “It was hard when you miss your first shot in the perimeter, that’s the hardest.”

Barroca said he started practicing last night and was only aiming for the top three.

The San Mig Coffee guard hurdled the obstacles in one attempt in the finals and edged Air21’s Villanueva, who had a quick start but misfired on his triples attempts and lagged behind at 36 seconds.

“I was lucky, because that perimeter was really hard. If I had missed, I’d have a hard time too,” Barroca said.

Alaska’s Jvee Casio, who registered 38.3 ticks in the eliminations, struggled in the finale and finished the course with a time of 54.5 seconds.

Barako Bull’s Willie Miller recorded 40.5 seconds in the elims, followed by Ginebra’s LA Tenorio at 42.9, San Miguel’s Sol Mercado at 41.6, Rain or Shine’s Paul Lee at 44, Talk N’ Text’s Jayson Castro at 49.4 and Meralco’s John Wilson at 54.2.