RP bets begin medal hunt in Singapore Youth Olympics

Junior tennis player Jeson Patrombon, taekwondo jin Kirk Barbosa and swimmer Jessie Lacun begin the country’s gold medal bid in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Sunday. Patrombon, who is now in the Top 50 junior players in the world, will face China’s top junior netter Boen Ouyang at the start of the singles tennis matches at the Kallang Tennis Center. The 15-year-old Barbosa, for his part, hopes to use his speed and determination against a taller Gili Haimovitz of Israel in what could be his toughest match to date. Lacuna, a prized find in the Palarong Pambansa and the Philippine Olympic Committee’s (POC) Olympic Festival, guns for a slot in the 400-meter freestyle finals at the Singapore Sports School pool. Of the three though, it could be Barbosa, who made it through here as a wildcard, would could snare the country’s first medal—a bronze—in the 48-kilogram class if he could hurdle Haimovitz in a virtual David-and-Goliath match. Aside from a medal, Patrombon is also aiming to earn International Tennis Federation (ITF) points since the Youth Olympics is an ITF Grade 4 tournament which is the same level of the Grand Slam events – Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. The 3-on-3 basketball team – composed of Filipino-American Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Jeron Teng, Cris Michael Tolomia and Michael Pate – begin its gold medal bid against the US Virgin Islands on Monday. Next up for the Mon Jose-coached squad is a Tuesday meeting with Spain before facing title contender Croatia the following day. The Nationals close out their elimination round schedule against South Africa on Thursday. Patricia Llena, the country’s flag bearer, will have her turn in the 63-kilogram class of weightlifting on Tuesday at the Suntec Convention Center. Llena is one of the country’s medal hopefuls after her performance in the Asian Weightlifting Championship in Dubai where she snared three silver medals. – JVP, GMANews.TV