PANABO CITY—Egged on by the hometown crowd, boxers from Davao del Norte bagged 11 gold medals in the PLDT-Abap Mindanao tournament at the New Pandan covered court here.
Davao del Norte turned back Gen. Santos City and long-time rival Misamis Oriental, which took the first two gold medals at stake, in the overall race.
GenSan placed second with five golds. Jake and Jade Bornea, who hail from Bula town, led the way with victories in the 48-kg light fly and 50-kg flyweight categories, respectively.
Other GenSan gold medalists were Jhesiel Vuano (44 kg), Ronnie Tanallon (49 kg) and Raffy Cavan (52 kg).
After MisOr fighters topped the 24-kg and 26-kg kids divisions, Davao struck gold in the 28-kg cotton weight when Jerald Cantero defeated MisOr’s Elyde Pamisa, 14-10. Cris Sander Laurente later rolled to a 6-1 triumph over Gingoog City’s Romel Tuyogon in the 30-kg vacuum weight.
Also winning for Davao del Norte were Christian Laurente (32 kg), Louille Roy Inson (42 kg), Rabicycle Gabriel (46 kg), Rolen Aivan Magarce (60 kg), Joey Canoy (46 kg) and Welander Hersalla (60 kg).
MisOr, which sent eight boxers to the finals, settled for four gold medals. The other two medals were courtesy of Julito Sumalinog (52 kg) and Jerson Ladrada (54 kg) in the junior boys division.
Claiming a gold each were Maasim’s Aldrin Pasculado (34 kg), Sursocot’s Gerald Lope (38 kg), Gingoog’s April Dan Mejares (40 kg) and Camiguin’s
Jeson Umbal (56 kg).
Abap’s next stop is the Visayas tournament in Dumaguete in January,
followed by the National Championship in Tagbilaran in February.
“PLDT-Abap’s program has a strong grassroots pipeline,” said Abap president Ricky Vargas, who awarded the medals along with Abap secretary general Patrick Gregorio and Smart Sports’ Epok Quimpo.
“This was started three years ago and we are reaping the fruits of our labor, thanks to boxing stakeholders like Panabo and MisOr. But there is a lot more to do and we remain focused and determined.”