Puerto Princesa—While gymnast Eldrew Yulo and swimmer Aubrey Tom emerged as the most bemedalled athletes on Day 2, Laguna bets Erica Marie Ruto and Magvrylle Matchino bounced back from so-so performances in the athletics’ meet of the 2019 Batang Pinoy National Championships here.
The 11-year-old Yulo turned the City Coliseum indoor courts into his own personal playground as he dominated the men’s artistic gymnastics competitions with five golds and two silvers.
The 12-year-old Tom gave herself an extra push in the last 10 meters to claim her fourth gold medal in the 50-meter butterfly event over at the Ramon V. Mitra Sports Complex pool.
Paranaque’s Mark Bryan Dula later joined Tom in her quest for a quadruple gold medal in Day 2 when he conquered in the 50m butterfly and the 200-m backstroke, to go with the golds he collected in the 50m backstroke and 100 butterfly on Day One.
The 15-year-old Ruto shrugged off a bronze-medal finish in the girls’ 100-meter dash on Monday, with a gold medal win in the 400-meter run at the RVMSC oval the following day.
Then, the 15-year-old Matchino fought off barefoot runner Lheslie de Lima’s bid to claim her second gold by taking the girls’ 1,500-meter run honors.
Yulo, a 6th grader at the Aurora Quezon Elementary School in the City of Manila, showed confidence and a laidback attitude in snatching four of five gold medals at stake in the apparatus events of the floor exercises and the routines in the vault and parallel bar, before taking second spot to Pasig City’s John Anthony Palles in the high bar of the boys competitions.
“Hindi po ako nakakasiguro sa gold nu’ng nandu’n ako. Para lang pong training ito,” said Yulo, the younger brother of national gymnast Carlos Yulo, who is currently training in Japan for the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
His fifth gold came when Yulo took the individual all-around honors with 47.4 points, with Pasig’s King Pernia in second (45.9 points), followed in third by Palles with 45.1.
Pasig eventually claimed the team championships with 137.5 points, while Yulo’s Team Manila was second with 133.65 for the silver. Sta. Maria of Bulacan settled for the team bronze.
On the other hand, Tom added more speed to in her final 10-meter dash to clock 31.41 seconds, with her time improving by 23/100ths of a second from the 31.64-second performance she had during the Luzon qualifiers.
The 6th grader from the International Learning Academy in Cainta, Rizal already had a three-gold haul on Day 1, from the 200-meter individual medley, the 100-meter freestyle and the 50-meter backstroke.
“Malabo ang tubig nu’ng palapit na ako sa touch pad. Akala ko malapit na, kaya dinadagdagan ko ang push,” said Tom through her mom Shirley.
Tom will aim for her fifth gold when she swims in the 50-meter freestyle on Day 3.
Bago City’s Kate Julianne Martinez emerged as the first double-gold winner in athletics after she claimed the girls’ shotput gold with a heave of 10.76m, to finish ahead of Camarines Sur’s Rechelle Barbin (10.72m) and Pangasinan’s Gennalyn Estrada (10.43m).
Ruto, a 10th grader at the Calamba Integrated School, outpaced Karen Pellegria of Bulacan Province in 1:01.3 for the girls 400-meter gold, while Matchino exacted sweet revenge on De Lima’s 800-meter win over her the other day by taking the girls’ 1,500-meter run in 5 minutes and five seconds.
The Camarines Sur-based De Lima, who is still recovering from thigh muscle injury, was 8/10th of a second behind in 5:05.8, with Cainta’s Angelica Saludares taking third (5:13.4).
