PALEMBANG, Indonesia—The bigger the praises heaped on tiny Iris Rañola, the better for the dimming Philippine campaign here.
Nothing much was said about Rañola after she beat Indon Amanda Rahayu for the 8-Ball pool gold medal in the 26th SEA Games.
There was also scant mention in the papers after she upset her friend Rubilen Amit, 7-2, for the 9-Ball gold at the Opi Convention Center Thursday.
That was quite unfair.
Rañola, 26, is the lead candidate as PH delegation golden girl, its first double-gold medal thus far.
In the finals on Thursday, all eyes were on Amit, who zoomed to stardom after topping the 2009 World Women’s 10-Ball championship in Manila.
Rañola had stayed in Amit’s shadow through the years, even in their succeeding international stints.
“She’s the real thing, galing-galing talaga (she’s really good),” Amit said with no qualms after bowing to Rañola.
In a rare show of control and composure, Rañola ruled the contest with impeccable pocketing and solid control of the cue ball.
How did she finally find her touch after so-so international campaigns?
Rañola could only stare blankly.
Where does her father work?
“He’s just at home,” she said.
They live off through the pension of her mother, a retired school teacher.
How would she spend here earnings here, where she has been assured of a P200,000 incentive for her twin golds.
“Maybe we could spend it for my father,” she said.
The father, a pool table owner in Zamboanga, who taught her the rudiments of the game, has been stricken with cancer.
It’s cancer of the throat, fourth stage, said the teary-eyed Rañola, who hopes her victory could lend a piece of joy to her father.