Youth Games nat’l finals kicks off in Cebu City

A BREEDING ground of future Filipino sports idols, the Philippine Youth Games-Batang Pinoy National Finals blasts off today at Cebu City Sports Complex with 10 gold medals in swimming at stake.

The talent-discovery games of the Philippine Sports Commission, which attracted 2,847 athletes in 27 sports, will again be on the lookout for fresh faces who will be trained to represent the country in future international meets.

This competition has been set up as the “battle of champions” since most of the athletes 15 years and younger topped their respective events in the three qualifying legs in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

“We expect the games to be highly competitive, an exciting battle among the champions of all our qualifying legs,” said PSC national games project director and lawyer Ma. Fe “Jay” Alano.

Cebu City is the hot favorite to retain the overall title after dominating last year’s National Finals in Bacolod City with a tally of 52 gold, 41 silver and 45 bronze medals.

Cebu clipped Baguio City which collected 26 gold, 22 silver and 15 bronze medals, while Zamboanga City placed third (26-7-28), Bacolod City fourth (24-27-25) and Quezon City fifth (20-20-14).