Trojans of Toledo barge into PCAP finals after beating Stallions of Davao in semis

Trojans

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Toledo-Xignex Trojans punched their way to the southern division finals of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Wesley So Cup after defeating the Davao Durianburg Stallions in the semifinals on Saturday, December 2, 2023. 

With the victory, the Trojans are inches away from winning the southern division title and ultimately, the Wesley So Cup title. 

They defeated the Stallions twice in their two-set semifinals match. 

They finished the first set with a dominating 15.5-5.5 scores and sealed their win with an 11.5-9.5 second set scores.

READ: Toledo Trojans finish on top of southern division in PCAP Wesley So Cup 

First set a draw

In the first set, they had a draw against Davao in the blitz round as they both finished 3.5 points with FIDE Master (FM) David Elorta and International Master (IM) Kim Steven Yap defeating National Master (NM) Jonathan Tan and Henry Roger Lopez, respectively, for Toledo.

Allan Pason earned an easy win in both the blitz and rapid rounds after NM Oberio Aglipay was defaulted after he was listed at the homegrown pairing instead of board one or top board pairing. 

In the rapid round, Toledo won five matches with IM Yap leading their win after he trounced Irwin Aton, while Grand Master (GM) Richard Bitoon edged FM Sander Severino, while Women’s FM Cherry Ann Mejia edged Karen Enriquez, and team captain Bonn Rainauld Tibod won over Lopez. It also includes Pason’s default win over NM Aglipay.

In the second set, both teams repeated their first set blitz round results with a 3.5-all scores. 

READ: Toledo Trojans pull away in PCAP standings with back-to-back wins

Trojans beat Stallions in rapid round

However, Toledo bested Davao in the rapid round, 8-6, courtesy of GM Bitoon, and IM Yap who beat NM Tan and Lopez, respectively.

Pason contributed crucial points in both the blitz and rapid rounds in the second set through his default wins over NM Aglipay. 

The Trojans will face the former PCAP champions, Iloilo Kisela Knights who narrowly beat the Surigao Fianchetto Checkmates in their semifinals match. 

The Kisela Knights lost the first set, 4-17, and eked out a hard-earned 11-10 win in the second set to force an Armageddon tie-breaker, 2-1. 

The southern division finals is slated on December 6, 2023, so as the northern division featuring the Pasig City King Pirates and the San Juan Predators. 

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