Iloilo Kisela Knights, San Juan Predators to face off again in finals
Iloilo Knights will face San Juan Predators in a rematch of the finals as this is the third time that both teams will play in the finals in the PCAP tournaments.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Iloilo Kisela Knights and the San Juan Predators will have a rematch in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) in the grand finals after trouncing their respective opponents in the division finals on Wednesday, April 6, 2022.
The two rival teams have already faced each other in PCAP’s grand finals twice. In the first season’s second conference last August 2021, Iloilo defeated San Juan to rule the tournament.
However, San Juan had a sweet revenge against Iloilo in the third conference last November, by beating the latter in the grand finals.
On Saturday, April 9, 2022, all eyes are focused on which of the two chess powerhouses will emerge as the All-Filipino conference champion.
Last Wednesday, Iloilo Kisela Knights ruled the southern division by defeating Davao Chess Eagles in two matches, 12-9, and, 17-4. Iloilo is the top seed of the southern division while Davao served as the second seed.
In the northern division, San Juan staged a major upset by beating the top seed Pasig City King Pirates, with an identical 11.5-9.5 scores in two matches. San Juan served as northern division’s second seed in the playoffs.
During the southern division finals, Iloilo overcame a slow start after losing the first match’s blitz round,3-4, by snatching the rapid round,9-5.
Karl Viktor Ochoa, National Master (NM) Cesar Mariano, NM Fritz Bryan Porras, and NM Rolly Parondo Jr. edged FM Roel Abelgas, NM Alexander Lupian, NM Aglipay Oberio, and NM Henry Roger Lopez respectively.
In the second set, Iloilo finally found their rhythm, winning both the blitz and rapid rounds.
This time, Grandmaster (GM) Antonio Rogelio Jr. led the charge by defeating FM Sander Severino in board one in both rounds. They went on winning the blitz round,5-2, and the rapid round,12-2, to rule the southern division.
Meanwhile, Pasig City put on a fight before bowing down to San Juan. In the first set of their matches, San Juan topped the blitz round,4.5-2.5.
However, both teams finished with a 7-all draw in the rapid round, but it wasn’t enough for Pasig to win the first set.
In the second set, Pasig City won the blitz round, 4.5-2.5, but lost the rapid round,9-5, to get booted out of the tournament.
A total of 24 teams, including two from Cebu, the Toledo City Trojans and the Cebu City Wizards vied in the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).
Toledo City managed to reach the semifinals of the southern division, but was eliminated by Davao, while Cebu City failed to clinch a playoff spot after losing in the play-in tournament.
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All set for PCAP northern, southern finals
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