Grandmaster of Memory (GMM) Erwin Balines placed third overall and 10-year-old Jan Jelo Juanir bagged a gold medal in the Kids division as the Avesco-Philippine team held its ground against powerhouse teams in the region at the 1st Asia International Memory Championships held recently in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong.
Balines collected two golds, one silver and five bronze medals and finished with 5,608 points overall behind two Mongolians.
Topping the championship was GMM Sengesamdan Ulziikhutag with 7,141 points followed by Purevjav Erdenesaikhan with 5,986.
Balines, however, earned the title of Asian Master of Memory after fulfilling the following memory requirements: 700 digits in 30 minutes; 7 decks of cards in 30 minutes, one deck of cards in 70 seconds and scoring at least 4,000 points in the tournament.
Juanir, on the other hand, won the gold in Abstract Images and a bronze in Historic and Future Dates in his first mind foreign stint.