Batang Pinoy Games blast off in Naga City

The future of Philippine sports will be in full display in the national finals of 2011 Batang Pinoy Games set to kick off tomorrow in Naga City.

Over 200 raw talents who passed the grade in five regional qualifying legs converge at the Gov. San Luis Sports Complex as they vie for slots in the national training pool and hopefully the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China.

National Capital Region bets head the cast of gold and silver medalists in the meet serving as one of the grassroots programs of the Philippine Sports Commission to discover young and vibrant athletes aged 15 years old and below across the country.

Manila and Quezon City shared top honors in the NCR eliminations with triple gold medalist Gerry Santiago leading the way when Manileños dominated 29 of the 36 events in athletics.

Flaunting their strength in the pool, QC tankers cornered 30 of 44 gold medals in swimming. The Southern Luzon leg is also rich of promising athletes after Tayabas and Laguna dominated boxing with seven gold medals each.

Young athletes discovered in the Zamboanga City, Dumaguete City and Baguio City qualifiers are also up to the task against the Big City aspirants in the four-day tourney sponsored by Smart Sports, Summit Mineral Water and Maynilad.

An elaborate opener is scheduled at 4 p.m. today at Plaza Quezon.

Eyes are also trained on archer Bianca Roxas-Chua Gotuaco and badminton ace Nina Carmela Zamora in the event backed by Milo, Jollibee, Negros Navigation, Aboitiz, Kids 3 Food Supplement, RELIV Now for Kids, the British Council and Growee Multivitamins.

Gotuaco, 14, ruled the Fita 18-meter and Olympic round in the NCR meet and recorded the highest scores in those events 547 and 280 points,  while Zamora breezed through the girls’ division without giving up a set.