New faces beat veterans in national bodybuilding c’ships

MANILA, Philippines – Two new faces upstaged their more illustrious rivals during Saturday’s National Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships held at the Onstage in Greenbelt I, Makati City. Hard training paid dividends for Dindo Amper of Holiday Gym and SPA and Eric Garcia of Double A Gym as they won the bantamweight and light middleweight division over seasoned rivals. A total of 57 bodybuilders, including four female competitors, joined the one day event organized by the Philippine Federation of Bodybuilders and Fitness (PFBB). Winner who passed the doping test, done immediately after the tournament, will earn Philippine national team slots. The top six bodybuilders advanced in the final round and were judged using the seven mandatory pose (front double biceps, front lateral spread, side chest, back double biceps, back lateral spread, side triceps and abdominal and thigh. Amper emerged as champion in the Under-65 kilogram weight class as he defeated Nelson Totanis of Kidlat Fitness Gym and Vicente Galedo Jr. of Body Flex. Totanis is a former national player while Galedo is the division’s defending champion. Garcia, on the other hand, proved to have the better physique over veteran Jesus Duga, the country’s representative to the Asian Indoor Games last year, who settled for second place in this tournament. Maic’s Gym produced two winners in lightweight Alex Javier and light heavyweight Jonathan Casimiro while completing the winners in the men’s division were Mario Paquito Jr. of Real Fitness Gym and Ruel Rondario of Oz Fitness in the welterweight. John Homer Valmote of Mighty Marks Gym emerged as the champion in the Junior Open while Slimmer’s World entry Rodora Trinchera was adjudged as Ms. Fitness. The tournament is also supported by the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (IFBB) and the Asian Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation (ABBF) with no less than IFBB vice president for Asia and ABBF secretary-general and treasurer Datuk Paul Chua as special guest. “I have seen tremendous improvement especially in the lower weight categories. I hope they will continue to train and get the needed financial support for the right food intake for these bodybuilders to shine in international competitions," said Chua, a Singapore native who is a frequent visitor of the PFBB. PFBB, headed by Atty. Luciano “Sonny" Lim, is set to compete in the Asian Championships in August in Tehran and the World Championship in Dubai in October. – GMANews.TV