Hundreds of table tennis players occupied the center court of the Cebu Coliseum in the 32nd Erne Jawad Cup. | By Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Visiting table tennis squads rule the recently concluded 32nd Erne Jawad Table Tennis Cup that wrapped up on Monday, August 26, at the Cebu Coliseum.
The tournament, organized by table tennis patron and University of Cebu (UC) Athletic Director Jessica Jawad Honoridez, saw the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers and the Iloilo table tennis team emerged as the winningest squads in the three-day tournament.
Both the UST and Iloilo claimed three titles each during the three-day event, which attracted over a thousand players from across the Philippines.
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UST excelled in several categories. In the men’s open, UST’s team, featuring Cebuano and former UC Webmasters star Eljey Dan Tormis alongside Alvin Sevilla and Joshua Manlapaz, defeated TATAND-Triple Charles, composed of Charlie Lim, John Russel Misal, Alexis Bolante, and Jed Villaviray, in the finals. UST-Altruist secured third place in this category.
In the girls under-18 division, UST-Altruist, consisting of Trexiemay Alarcon, Kaira Agreda, J-An Sanchez, and Christine Golez, emerged victorious against Huaching Foundation’s Jhamaica Labrador, Zuri Chua, and Olympia Ducanes. Negros A and Iloilo shared third place.
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Boys under-18 singles
Joshua Manlapaz of UST claimed the boys under-18 singles title by defeating Franz Gapol of Huaching Foundation, while Jebb Jerwin Datahan of UST and Dirk Atilano Keona of Team Kalaw Legends took joint third place.
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Iloilo also had a remarkable showing. Its girls under-13 team, featuring Joziah Marie Joie Manero, Jae Nycel Madrona, and Elisse Jade Benguan, triumphed in their category.
The boys under-13 team from Iloilo, consisting of Arsen Belasa, Osh Banas, and Kael Palabrica, also secured a win. Osh Banas added another title by winning the boys under-13 singles title.
The rest of the champions included the Donic-Far Eastern University-Philippine Navy in the women’s open team, Huaching-A in the boys under-18 team, and Ervin Bomban in the executive open 45-above category.
Rose Jean Fadol took the women’s singles open title, John Russel Misal won the men’s singles open, Jesmaine Tayag claimed the girls singles under-18 title, and Sheirel Denis Siaboc was victorious in the girls singles under-13 category.
This year’s Erne Jawad Cup set a new record with over a thousand participants, doubling last year’s numbers.
The tournament remains the Philippines’ longest-running and most significant table tennis event, honoring the late national team member Erne Jawad, who passed away in 1990.