Trojans clinch last playoff spot in PCAP All-Filipino Conference
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Toledo City Trojans qualified for the southern division playoffs despite losing their last elimination round match of the ongoing Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) All-Filipino Conference.
Toledo City lost to the Davao Chess Eagles, 5-16, and finished their campaign with 20 wins and 14 losses worth 387.5 points which is good for sixth place.
They avoided the play-in tournament because of their higher total points compared to seventh placer Camarines Soaring Eagles which accumulated 382.5 points with the same win-loss record.
This will be Toledo City’s third straight time to qualify in the PCAP playoffs since the tournament’s inception last year.
They reached the semifinals of the southern division in the last year’s conference by beating the heavily-favored Zamboanga Sultans but failed to reach the finals after losing to the Iloilo Kisela Knights.
Nonetheless, Toledo proved that they’re one of the best Cebu-based teams in the tournament.
Former champions, Iloilo City is the top seed in the playoffs while Davao is at No. 2 followed by Zamboanga, Negros, Surigao, and Toledo.
During their match with Davao, Toledo City lost both the blitz and rapid rounds. National Master (NM) Merben Roque was Toledo’s lone winner in the blitz round after beating Arnel Aton.
International Master (IM) Rico Mascariñas and NM Rogelio Enriquez Jr. had a draw versus NM Alexander Lupian and Anthony Mosqueda, respectively, while the rest of the Trojans lost.
In the rapid round, NM Enriquez Jr. prevented a shutout for Toledo by winning against Mosqueda, while IM Mascariñas had another draw versus Lupian as Davao clinched six wins in the round.
Meanwhile, the Cebu City Wizards lost to Zamboanga, 3.5-17.5, and will compete for the play-in to determine the last two remaining slots for the southern division playoffs. The Wizards finished their elimination round campaign with a 6-28 (win-loss) slate good for 10th.
They will face Camarines in the play-in on March 26, 2022, while Cagayan de Oro squares off with Palawan. Iriga and Tacloban are both eliminated from the tournament. /rcg
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