THERE was an upset, a near-upset and rousing wins on other sporting fronts the past few days.
Although Ricky Vargas routed Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. to win the presidency of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), it was still considered an upset.
Nobody practically has ever beaten Peping in an election contest. In fact, days before the polls were held, there were cynics insisting Peping still had the numbers.
Some pundits passionately argued Peping would thrash Vargas again and repeat his 2016 victory—a hollow one as Peping got Vargas disqualified on a weak technicality.
So weak that a Pasig court saw wisdom in Vargas’ protest to have Peping’s win nullified, paving the way for a new POC election on February 23.
But even amid Peping’s impending defeat in the new polls, the 83-year-old warrior just wouldn’t give up.
He was ready to give it another go—come hell or high water, so to speak.
It was only when the general assembly finally decided to have a re-election that things started to appear bleak for Peping.
But little did many know that Joey Romasanta, Peping’s right-hand man for decades, had sent the distress signals for Peping when Joey detached himself, albeit quietly, from his boss of nearly 50 years.
That was ominous, opening the floodgates of a massive upset that would eventually take the form of a rousing 24-15 victory for Vargas.
So desperate was Peping, cognizant of a disaster looming in the horizons, that he had to coax his daughter, Mikee Jaworski, to cast her vote—a virtual first in Olympic history.
As the Philippines’ permanent representative to the International Olympic Committee, Mikee, by tradition, was practically forbidden to vote.
Romasanta, in his last act of respect to Boss Peping, abstained as karate president but not volleyball’s Pete Cayco, canoe/kayak’s Jonne Go and soft tennis’ Jeff Tamayo, Joey’s allies who all voted for Vargas.
As Peping’s POC grip of 12 years ends in bitter defeat, Vargas, 66, begins a reign raining on expectations punctuated by a sporting resurgence.
We can only hope Vargas would be open to change—as he had heartily harked in his campaign sorties.
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THE Gilas Pilipinas barely escaped the upset axe when it pulled off an 89-85 win over Japan on Sunday, thanks to the returning Jason Castro.
Castro, absent in the 84-68 Gilas loss to Australia to mend an ankle sprain, scored on a difficult bank shot to give Gilas an 88-84 lead with 10.6 seconds left, deflecting a Japanese rally from 15 points down to come to within 84-86.
The win put Gilas at 3-1 behind the 4-0 Australia to keep alive its hopes of advancing in the Fiba World Cup qualifiers in Group B. Taiwan is 1-3 and Japan 0-4 and is out of it.
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AFTER Jerwin Ancajas’ fourth straight successful defense of his world bantamweight crown in Corpus Christi, Texas, came Donnie “Ahas” Nietes’ equally impressive victorious defense of his IBF flyweight title in Inglewood, California.
While it took Ancajas 10 rounds to stop Israel Gonzalez of Mexico, Nietes needed only seven rounds to knock out Argentina’s Juan Carlos Reveco on Sunday.
Ancajas is 26 and the owner of a 29-1 record (19 KOs). Nietes, 35, now holds a 41-1-4 card with 23 KOs.
Their victories and world titles are proof once more that we are truly world-class when it comes to boxing.
Ergo, even if Manny Pacquiao, who handles Ancajas, would suddenly retire, he will leave the scene not lacking in talents.
Isn’t ALA Promotions’ Mark Magsayo also destined for boxing greatness?
THAT’S IT This is the eve of the PAL Interclub Golf in Bacolod, with Luisita set to start defense of its Seniors crown beginning March 1. Canlubang will be there again to challenge at Marapara and Binitin, the same courses where the Men’s Regular event ruled by Southwoods the last three years will also be held March 7-10. PAL President Jaime J. Bautista hit the ceremonial tee shot at Marapara on Feb. 26, kicking off the country’s national team golf championship where the nation’s future golf stars sharpen their fortune-seeking skills. Good luck!
1 comment
I can’t help but compare the defeat of Peping Cojuangco as a sort of People’s Power, but by the heads of the sporting associations. They had had enough, blus Vargas being backed my Manny Pangilinan showed that Peping was a spent force against a true patron of sports.