MANILA, Philippines—Former and current national Sudoku champions Sarah Jane Cua and Timothy James Tan have made the Philippines proud by topping the youth category of the just-concluded 2011 Beijing International Sudoku Tournament (BIST).
The good news was relayed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday by Dr. Simon Chua, president of the non-government Mathematics Trainers’ Guild-Philippines (MTG), who led the country’s delegation to the May 21-22 competition.
Young math wizards Cua and Tan placed first and second in the contest’s “18-and-under” category, said Chua.
Cua and Tan, both MTG wards and mainstays of the national math team, took home $500 and $400, respectively, as well as trophies.
Sixteen-year-old Cua is an incoming management engineering freshman at the Ateneo de Manila University.
In 2010, she bested over 50 Asian participants to emerge as grand champion in the Brand’s Asia-Pacific Sudoku Challenge in Singapore, where she won S$10,000 (about P332,640) and a glass trophy, among other prizes.
She also ruled the same regional competition in 2008.
In 2009, she placed second in the 3rd Brand’s Sudoku International Open-Princess Somsawali Cup in Bangkok.
Tan, 14, and a junior high school student of the Trinity Christian School in Bacolod City, topped the 5th Philippines Sudoku Super Challenge championships in January. He has been playing sudoku since he was eight.
In the Beijing contest, China’s Luo Tianyi and Ma Menglei were third and fourth, followed by Gabriel Rong from Singapore.
Another Philippine entry—Kaye Janelle Yao from Grace Christian College in Quezon City—placed seventh among the 10 contestants in the youth category.
Meanwhile, Jakub Ondrousek from the Czech Republic was named the BIST’s overall winner, followed by Jan Mrozowski from Poland and Kota Morinishi from Japan.
The competition drew a total of 53 contestants.
The other contest participants came from Australia, Belarus, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, and the United Kingdom.