Nine-year-old Arian Caballes of the Cebu City Central School competes in the table tennis competition of the Visayas Open.
Unable to make it to the Palaro, 9-year-old table paddler is proving his worth in the ongoing Visayas Open
Nine-year-old Arian Caballes and his 12-year-old brother, Andrei, are among the top table paddlers of the Cebu City Central School.
In the doubles event of the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) meet last month in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, both teamed up to win a gold for Cebu City.
So it was expected that both would earn slots to the Central Visayas team that would compete in the Palarong Pambansa in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
But only Andrei made it to the team. This as the head coach of Cviraa’s elementary table tennis team decided to select a player from Labangon Elementary School to complete the lineup.
“As a parent, it hurt me [that he was not included],” said Arian’s mom, Crystal. “But I told him to stay focused, stay motivated and stay hungry to win.”
Good thing for Arian is that the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) now has the Visayas Open, which was conceptualized to provide athletes like him another avenue to showcase their talents to further prove their worth.
And Arian didn’t waste time in showing he deserved to be in the team as he wowed spectators at the Robinsons Galleria Cebu during the table tennis competition of the Visayas Open.
“When we learned about the PSC Visayas Open, we did not hesitate to let him join,” Crystal said.
Arian, a gold medal in the Cebu City Olympics, dominated his first match against Naga City’s Mark-Paul Raneses in three sets yesterday.
Arian actually has a bright future ahead as University of Cebu’s (UC) athletic manager Jessica Honoridez has already made plans to develop him into a top caliber player with the Webmasters, a powerhouse in table tennis.
Arian’s father, Arsenio, who is a taxi driver, was one of Honoridez’ players when she was still a head coach of UC’s table tennis squad.
It was actually Honoridez who transferred Arian to the Cebu City Central School from the Pardo Elementary School so that she can monitor the boy’s development.
Meanwhile, more than a hundred smashers from nine different schools participated in the badminton event at the Metrosports Badminton Center in Salinas Drive, Lahug, Cebu City.
Top three winners of each category advanced to the championships where they will face winners from the Ormoc City, Tagbiliran City and Danao City legs.
Ormoc City will be hosting the inaugural championship rounds.
Ezra Ralota, Margaret Casolari and Cheley Cabingtan were the top three, respectively, in the U12 girls’ singles event.
In the U12 boys’ singles, the top three were Jhondel Abucejo, Rodolfo De Guzman IX and Chris Gabutan.
The U16 girls’ singles qualifiers were Francisca Tagalog, Mharse Bartolome and Angel Delima while Jhonnel Rubinos, Kevin Gesta and Philip Garote were the top three in the boys’ singles.
The U22 boys’ singles winner was Grasielo Ruiz followed by Clifford Villegas and Joseph Jayme. /with a report from Ray Charlie Diaz
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