Phl Age-groupers make history in Indonesian blitz tourney

(www.balita.ph)
June 16, 2011 10:58 pm

TARAKAN, Indonesia, June 16 -– The Philippines made history by winning eight golds, seven silvers and eight bronzes in the 12th ASEAN + age-group blitz chess competitions at the Indoor Telaga Kramat Stadium here Wednesday.


Dennis Gutierrez III of Pangasinan swept all his nine matches to clinch the gold medal in the boys eight years old and under category in this annual event held simultaneously with the ASEAN + age-group standard chess competitions.

The other gold medal winners for the Filipinos are Julius Gonzales of Marikina in the boys 10 under; Daryl Unix Samantila of Malabon in the boys 12-under; Dominique Lagula of Nueva Ecija in the boys 16-under; and Mira Mirano of Aklan in the girls 14-under.

Gonzales finished with seven points, Samantila wound up wit seven points, Lagula had 6.5 points and Mirano had 7.5 points.

The Filipinos also bagged the team gold medals in the girls 14-under team of Mirano and Ella Grace Moulic; the boys 16 under-team of Lagula, Dave Patrick Dulay and Jeazzir Kline Suposa; the girls 16-under team of Janelle Mae Frayna, Cherry Ann Mejia and Jean Karen Enriquez.

“We’re very happy with this newest achievement of our players,” said newly-appointed National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) executive director GM Jayson Gonzales.

“It only shows that our NCFP program for grassroot development is on the right track," he said.
Gonzales, also the head of the delegation of the 36-player Filipino contingent said the all-out support of NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) through chairman Ricardo Garcia and commissioner Akiko Thomson-Guevarra enabled the Filipino players “to train well and perform well for this prestigious competition for players 20 years-old-and- below.”

“The Filipinos’ impressive showing here in Tarakan will surely serve as inspiration to other aspiring players back home to work harder and perform better,” added Gonzales, who made a name for himself here by finishing equal second in the ASEAN Circuit in 2008 and earning a GM norm in this Indonesian city near the border of Borneo.

The silver medals came from the boys 8-under team of Gutierrez, Ronald Canino and Khuelene Lord de la Cruz; Irish Yngayo in the girls 8-under; Samantha Glo Revita of Pangasinan in the girls 12-under; Frayna in the girls 16- under; Lennon Hart Salgados and Mari Joseph Turqueza in the boys 20-under; and the team of Salgadois, Turqueza and Richelieu Salcedo.

Bronze medal winners were the girls 8-under team of Yngayo, Mary Sol Quitong and Jerlyn Mae San Diego; the boys 10-under team of Gonzales, Dennis Gutierrez Jr. and Jeremy Solano; the boys 12-under team of Samantila, Haince Patrick de Loen and Tristan Ibaoc;

The girls 12-under team of Revita and Marie Antoinette San Diego; the boys 14 under-team of Jerad Docena, Austin Jacob Literatus and Giovanni Mejia; Moulic in the girls 14-under; Mejia in the girls 16 under; and the girls 20 under team of Rowelyn Acedo, Jedar Docena and Mary Israel Palero. (PNA) DCT/LDV/LOR