SPORTS STORIES TO TELL THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE PANDEMIC YEAR 2020
No doubt, the pandemic inflicted local sports a severe beating in perhaps one of the most challenging times for Filipinos athletes in the last 75 years.
Not since World War II has Philippine sports been brought to its knees by a catastrophe as deadly as the COVID-19 pandemic. Institutions as deep-rooted as the NCAA and UAAP proved vulnerable as everyone was to the virus, while established organizations such as the PBA, Asia’s first ever play-for-pay league, weren’t spared either as it was forced to shut its operations for more than half a year. Government agencies such as the Philippine Sports Commission were also severely affected and had to tighten their belts and cut by half all allowances provided to national athletes under their care. While sports managed to get back to its feet before the year 2020 came to a close, there was no moment as challenging to Filipino sportsmen as this time of the pandemic.
PBA RESTARTS SEASON IN A BUBBLE – Asia’s pioneering pro league was only a game into its 45th season when the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country forced it to suspend the Philippine Cup indefinitely. It waited for weeks and months on what course of action to take, to the point of considering totally cancelling the entire season. But it dared to resume the season in a bubble set-up inspired no less by the NBA. At a cost of P65 million and the only one in Asia to mount such an undertaking, the league found Clark in Pampanga the perfect site to hold the remainder of the Philippine Cup
TOKYO OLYMPICS POSTPONED – in what many sports officials considered as the best ever chance for Filipinos to finally clinch a long-sought Olympic gold medal suddenly went down the drain when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee decided to reschedule the Summer Games for next year. Pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Caloy Yulo, and boxers Irish Magno and Eumir Marcial already punched their respective tickets to the Tokyo Games when the announcement was made
COLLEGE LEAGUES CANCEL SEASONS – the country’s two major college leagues were the ones badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. With schools prohibited from conducting face-to-face classes and student-athletes not allowed to train, these could do nothing but to cancel what remained of their seasons. NCAA was the first to call off the remainder of Season 95 following a meeting by the league’s policy board.
GILAS PILIPINAS A WORK IN PROGRESS – After a humbling experience in the FIBA World Cup last year, Gilas Pilipinas began rebuilding its confidence and roster makeup and decided to form a team of PBA players and cadets for the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. Mark Dickel called the shots for the team on an interim basis and steered the Filipinos to a 100-70 whipping of Indonesia in Jakarta during the first window that was cut short by the pandemic. By the time the qualifiers resumed under a bubble set-up in Bahrain, Gilas Pilipinas had to make do with an all-cadet team as the entire PBA delegation was simultaneously holding the Philippine Cup restart under a similar bubble in Clark, Pampanga.
HIGHS AND LOWS OF PH BOXING – Filipino boxers had their share of ups and downs during the pandemic. With contact sports initially not allowed, professional bouts in the country took a beating and led to the closure of perhaps the biggest boxing stable in the country – ALA Promotions.
But there were stories that warmed the heart as well. Unheralded Mike Plania stunned unbeaten and World Boxing Organization (WBO) No. 1 bantamweight contender Joshua Greer by majority decision when boxing made a comeback middle of 2020, Johnriel Casimero was all business in dealing Duke Micah a severe third-round beating to retain his WBO 118-lb. title, while Eumir Marcial passed his pro debut with flying colors with a unanimous decision win over Andrew Whitfield in Los Angeles. But Reymart Gaballo saved the best for last, outpointing heavily-favored Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) interim bantamweight championship. The unbeaten Filipino scored a disputed split decision win to complete the upset.#