Led by gymnastics ace Carlos Edriel Yulo, pint-sized Filipino athletes made the biggest sports headlines in the month of November.
The Pinoy pocket dynamo stood out in bagging a silver and bronze medal, respectively, in the men’s vault and parallel bars plus finishing eighth overall in the grueling all-around event in the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Liverpool, England.
In boxing, Carlo Paalam captured the men’s bantamweight gold in the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan after pulling off a 4-1 split decision win over top seed Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan in the finals
Three jiu jitsu exponents, bannered by five-year-old cutie Aleia Aielle Aguilar, also shared the spotlight in bagging golds in the World Jiu Jitsu Festival in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The daughter of wrestling chief Alvin and May Masuda, the country’s first women’s world jiu jitsu champion, became the youngest world jiu jitsu champ in topping the Kids 1 girls white belt 16-kilogram -B division.
The young Aguilar’s accomplishment was one of a trio of golds captured by the Filipina grapplers, with Meggie Ochoa and Kimberly Custodio topping the women’s 48-kg and 45-kg divisions, respectively, in the global jiu jitsu showcase.
Top female squash player Jemyca Aribado ended her elusive quest for individual glory in securing the women’s individual gold medal in the 7th Southeast Asian Cup Squash Championships in Johore, Malaysia.
After not dropping a set in the earlier rounds, Aribado went through the wringer before emerging with a thrilling 11-4, 6-11, 16-14, 9-11, 11-5 win over Malaysian No. 2 seed Whitney Isabelle Wilson in the championship match.
Over in Bangkok, Thailand, the country’s youthful chess players stamped their class in ruling several age groups plus earning FIDE titles to copping overall honors in the Eastern Asia Youth Chess Championships.
With the support of the Philippine Sports Commission and the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, the Filipino campaigners went home with 12 golds in individual blitz, rapid, and standard play and another 20 mints in the team event of these three categories.
Christian Gian Karlo Arca topped the boys’ under-14 class and gained a Master title in towing Ivan Travis and John Cyrus Borce to a 1-2-3 finish in the division.
Lexie Grace Hernandez secured the under-18 crown and took a Woman International Master title while April Joy Claros, who was tops in girls under-16 category. Claros earned a Woman Masters title and gained one Woman International Master norm.
Jemaicah Mendoza took the girls under-12 division, earning a Woman Masters title in the process.
Albay’s Bince Rafael Operiano, 9, took the boys under-10 crown after beating Galt Naran-Undrakh of Mongolia to force a four-way tie for first and won the gold on tie-break and got a Candidate Masters title.
Elle Castronuevo dominated the girls’ under-8 division, taking the blitz, rapid, and standard chess categories.
International Master Michael Concio Jr., 17, beat Indian IM Saha Neelash in the final round to place second overall with 6.5 points in the Asian Juniors Chess Championships held at the Knights Templar Hotel in Tagaytay City.
Bowling legend Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno was also back to his winning ways in securing the gold medal in the men’s singles 65-and-above class of the 16th Asian Senior Bowling Championships at the Sunway Megalanes in Petaling Jaya City, Malaysia.
Nepomuceno scored 1264 pinfalls to beat Japan’s Akira Nakada (1238).