Another forgettable sporting year was about to end until three different personalities managed to defy odds and turn a so-so season into a memorable 2017.
Bowler Krizziah Lyn Tabora triggered the closing explosive rash of achievements by nailing an eighth World Cup title for the country last November, businessman-sports patron Manuel V. Pangilinan finally secured early this month the right to stage the FIBA World Cup before Filipinos in 2023 and Carlo Biado made it a double December coup by ruling the World 9-ball billiards championship.
Philippine sports could not have wished for the slew of inspiring developments just days before the end of a year that earlier saw the loss last July of its old pride and joy, the former eight-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, and another embarrassing overall performance in the Southeast Asian Games last August in Kuala Lumpur.
Pacquiao, who turned 39 on Sunday, paid dearly for taking Australian Jeff Horn lightly and yielded the WBO welterweight crown by decision in Brisbane.
After skipping the stipulated rematch, Pacquiao, who has concentrated on his job as senator, is reportedly girding for a comeback in April.
With a measly harvest of 24 gold medals in the last SEA Games, which is the lowest level of international test for the country’s bets, an improved showing in the bigger and tougher Asian Games in Indonesia in August is a must.
The Filipinos won just a single gold (from mountain bike in cycling) in the last Asiad in South Korea.
Tabora, ranked only 26th in Asia, became just the fifth Filipino to win in the Bowling World Cup where Paeng Nepomuceno is among the greatest with four championships.
After a silver in the team-of-five in the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and a bronze in the same event in the KL SEA Games, Tabora, 26, finally showed her individual talent in Hermosillo, Mexico.
The bespectacled Tabora ranked second in the 40-game qualifying with a 219 pin average, then advanced as No. 3 in the stepladder semifinals, where she beat Rocio Restrepo of Colombia, 249-222, before outclassing Siti Rahman of Malaysia, 236-191, in the final.
The last Filipino World Cup champ was CJ Suarez, who triumphed in 2003. Lita de la Rosa was the first Filipino women’s champion in 1978 followed by Bong Coo the following year.
Biado, a former golf caddie, beat Roland Garcia, 13-5, in an all-Filipino final to win the $30,000 (about P1.8 million) top prize at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha last Thursday.
Biado became the fourth Filipino to win the event after Efren “Bata” Reyes in 1999, Ronato Alcano in 2006 and Francisco “Django” Bustamante in 2010. Alex Pagulayan also won in 2003 but he was representing Canada then.
The victory made Biado a top candidate for the Athlete of the Year plum from the Philippine Sportswriters Association during its annual awards night next year. Biado, 34, has the edge over Tabora. He was the men’s pool champion in the World Games in Poland last July before adding the 9-ball singles gold in the last SEA Games.