Top-seeded teams Laguna Heroes and Iloilo Kisela Knights banner the field when the quarterfinals of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) All-Filipino Conference fires off on Wednesday, March 24.
Laguna and Iloilo claimed the No. 1 seeding in the Northern and Southern Divisions after topping the preliminaries with identical 30-4 win-loss records.
The Heroes arranged a meeting with eighth seeds Antipolo Cobras in the knockout quarters, which will be played with one blitz and one rapid set composed of seven boards each.
The Kisela Knights, for their part, will be facing the Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warriors.
Other quarters pairing in the Northern Division pit No. 2 San Juan vs No. 7 Pasig, No. 3 Caloocan vs No. 6 Cavite, and No. 4 Manila vs No. 5 Rizal.
The Southern Division, meanwhile, will have No. 2 Camarines vs No. 7 Mindoro, No. 3 Negros vs No. 6 Lapu-Lapu, and No.4 Zamboanga vs No. 5 Toledo.
Semifinals are scheduled on Saturday, March 27, while Division finals will be on March 31. The Grand Finals will be on April 3.
Iloilo’s top player Grandmaster Joey Antonio hopes they could sustain their form, but admitted they are wary of Cordova.
“Kumbaga sa basketball, bilog ang bola. It’s a different ballgame dito sa quarterfinals. Sa eliminations walang pressure. Dito pag natalo ka, uwi na,” Antonio said.
Though Cordova hasn’t won over Iloilo in this tournament, team manager Francisco Rivera believes they still have what it takes to pull off a victory.
“We’re happy to make it this far. We’re really the underdog in this matchup, but anything can happen. Hopefully, we’ll give them a good fight,” Rivera said.