Leanne Marie Manning (left) and Noem Drexel Krixie Guades will compete in the online gymnastics tournament tomorrow, Friday. The tournament is called 2021 KOOP Cup of the Kalev Estienne Rhythmic Gymnastics Canada International. | Photos from Darlene Dela Pisa
CEBU CITY, Philippines—- Two young Cebuana gymnasts will strut their wares in an online gymnastics tournament tomorrow, Friday, May 7, 2021, which is called the 2021 KOOP Cup of the Kalev Estienne Rhythmic Gymnastics Canada International.
The young Cebuanas, who are competing, are 13-year old Leanne Marie Manning and 11-year old Noem Drexel Krixie Guades. They are two of the promising gymnasts of renowned Cebuana gymnastics coach Darlene Dela Pisa of Team Ritmik Jimnastiks La Sugbo.
Dela Pisa and her gymnasts have been raking medals from several online gymnastics tournaments since December.
This time, she will be fielding in the smallest number of entries in an international tournament, pitting Manning and Guades against gymnasts from Canada, Germany, Estonia, Norway, France, and Finland.
“We are the only entries coming from the Philippines. Actually, we almost missed out of the registration, but luckily we were able to beat the deadline of registration,” Dela Pisa told CDN Digital.
Manning will be competing in three apparatus in club, ball, and ribbon under the junior category. Guades will also vie in three apparatus in freehand, ball, and rope under the pre-juniors category.
Dela Pisa added that she is also optimistic about Guades’s competition even though the latter just started competing in gymnastics in 2019.
“Although she’s a starter in gymnastics, she was able to win a gold medal in the Cebu City Olympics,” said Dela Pisa.
Thanks to the University of Cebu’s (UC) administration, Dela Pisa and her gymnasts were able to continue their training despite the COVID-19 pandemic after they were allowed to use the Cebu Coliseum as their training venue for the past months.
Dela Pisa is also the head coach of the UC Webmasters gymnastics team. She and her gymnasts are gearing up for several major international tournaments in the coming months. After the KOOP Cup in Canada, they will vie in another international tournament in Portugal later this month and in France in June.
/dbs
Related Stories
Will virtual competition become the new normal in the world of sports?
Long training pays off for Cebu karatekas with a 8 gold medal haul in virtual kata e-tourney
CCSC continues grassroots program via virtual platform
NM Roque, Velarde score big wins in Asian Zonal chess tourney