DAVAO City—Heleina Dominique So and Robert Bryan Dayanan Jr. will compete in a tournament in Malaysia in March as a followup to their success in last December’s Philippine Sports Commission-Batang Pinoy National Championships in Ilocos Norte.
So topped the girls’ e-kata and e-fantom kumite for 8 to 9 years old, while Dayanan ruled the boys’ e-kata event for 10 to 11 years old in the virtual karate competitions of the Batang Pinoy.
Davao City’s karate team delivered four gold medals in the Batang Pinoy with Pauleen Nicelle dominating the girls e-fantom kumite for 12 to 13 years old athletes.
Davao City clinched 11 gold, 17 silver and 31 bronze medals to finish 10th among 106 local government units in the Batang Pinoy that played a hybrid national championships.
Baguio City topped the nationals with a 31-30-38 gold-silver-bronze haul, followed by Pasig City (22-12-14), Quezon City (21-10-15), Laguna (20-15-16), Iloilo City (17-14-15), Lapu-Lapu City (16-7-6), Pangasinan (15-12-14), General Santos City (13-12-11) and Lucena City (12-9-3).
“I’m happy to win gold medals in the Batang Pinoy. It’s a bit more difficult when you play in a virtual competition than in face-to-face,” So told a recent news conference here.
Dayanan told the same sports forum that his parents inspired him to win gold in Batang Pinoy and that he prepared hard for the competition. Chess and wushu accounted for two medals, according to the Sports Development Division of the City Mayor’s Office.
Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa bagged the boys’ under-13 rapid individual gold medal while of Aaron Aton and Lance Andrei Lao ruled the boys under-11 rapid team event.
Gillan Miguel Porras (Group A male barehand 24 steps Taiji Quan) and Jhianna Henrietty Celi (Group B female long weapon) brought home the wushu gold medals.
Archer Pepito Henry Wee (compound boys-72 arrows), swimmer Stacey Bernice Requiza (girls 13-15 50-meter backstroke), and dancesport athlete Bhenz Rudolf Owen Semilla (standard junior male) clinched the city’s other gold medals. Neighboring Davao del Norte (7-12-11) finished 18th in the medals race.