Central Visayas’ Naina Dominique Tagle during her Palarong Pambansa gold medal campaign. | Palarong Pambansa 2024 – Cebu City photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Athletes from Negros Oriental brought crucial gold medals to the host delegation, Central Visayas (Region 7), as the third day of the Palarong Pambansa 2024 concluded on Saturday, July 13.
The formidable archer from Dumaguete, Naina Dominique Tagle, and the lawn tennis duo of Rousey Drew Paliwag and Mariet Marie Bolongaita from the Municipality of Valencia clinched four gold medals.
These victories elevated Central Visayas’ medal tally to 19 golds, 28 silvers, and 12 bronzes to remain at fourth place as of 8 p.m. on Saturday.
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The reigning champions, the National Capital Region (NCR), lead the medal standings by a wide gap of 43 golds, 30 silvers, and 43 bronzes.
Calabarzon (Region 4-A) follows in second with a 33-23-31 count, while Western Visayas (Region 6) holds third place with a 30-23-23 tally.
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GIRLS’ ARCHERY
In the secondary girls’ archery events held at the South Road Properties (SRP), Tagle showcased her precision by winning the 60-meter distance, 1440 round, and 70-meter distance events.
She outperformed NCR’s Cassandra Enecio, who took silver in the 1440 round and 60-meter distance, and Denelyn Villagracia of the Bicol Region (Region 5) and Ginafe Fabrero of SOCKSARGEN (Region 12), who claimed bronzes in the 1440 round and 60-meter distance, respectively.
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Tagle also bested Emy Angela Peredo of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in the 70-meter distance, with Yzabella Fajardo of Bicol Region earning the bronze.
In elementary lawn tennis, Paliwag from Valencia Central Elementary School and Bolongaita from ABC Learning Center won Central Visayas’ only gold medal in the elementary division at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club’s indoor tennis court.
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They defeated Central Luzon (Region 3) in the gold medal match, with Cagayan Valley (Region 2) settling for bronze.
Besides gold medals, Central Visayas secured numerous silver and bronze medals on the third day. Etha Nadine Seno and Claudwin Seven Toñacao of Bogo City each earned bronze in the elementary girls’ and boys’ lawn tennis singles, respectively.
SUCCESS IN BALL GAMES
In basketball, the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers dominated Cagayan Valley, 114-73, at the USC Main Campus gymnasium, finishing the elimination round with a 3-0 record and advancing to the secondary boys’ basketball quarterfinals on Sunday, July 14.
Meanwhile, Abellana National School (ANS) overwhelmed Region 1, 103-45, at the USC-NC gymnasium, also progressing unbeaten to the girls’ secondary basketball quarterfinals.
In baseball, Central Visayas bounced back from an early defeat against Eastern Visayas (Region 8), 4-6, by defeating Region 5, 8-2.
The USJ-R Lady Jaguars wrapped up the volleyball elimination round with a perfect 3-0 record after defeating Davao Region, 25-16, 25-16, at their home turf in the USJ-R Basak Campus.
Sunday, July 14, will be pivotal for Central Visayas as many of its teams in ball games and individual events such as wrestling, taekwondo, badminton, table tennis, and rhythmic gymnastics will compete in the semifinals.