When something good happens, why not tell it to the world. This blog is dedicated to help promote Table Tennis in whatever small way it can...
First of all congratulations to Mr. Ting Ledesma, Mr. Jackson Que and company for the very successful METTA CUP 2, the biggest Table Tennis tournament in the Philippines!!
Metta Cup 2. Manila. April 22-25, 2010. 4 days of intense international table tennis action -
what every table tennis tournament should be - here's why...
Venue.Brilliantly set in the air-conditioned Ninoy Aquino Stadium just across the Harrison Plaza Mall in Manila. Admission was free to the general public.
Opening. The event kicked off with a free collared shirt for all participants distributed at the registration table. (Like buying a shirt and getting to play in a tournament for free? Well that depends on how one sees it...)
Then the customary parade of the competitors into the stadium. Practically all Metro Manila pongers were there - Universities and Colleges spearheaded the competitors. Fil-Chi was there. TATAND was there. ANDRO was there. PNP was there. Different clubs and schools from Makati to Pateros and up north from Quezon City were in attendance.
Definitely not just another local Metro Manila tournament, LOPTTA of Bacolod was present. So was HUACHING of Cebu. Southern Tagalog was represented by Laguna, Cavite and San Beda of Rizal. Mindoro was there. Baguio led the participants from Northern Luzon.
Tan Chew of Indonesia had a big contingent including some of their national players and even 2 junior players making Metta Cup 2 a truly International tournament in the offing.
The trophies were unveiled and the games was officially opened by no less than Metta president Mr. Ting Ledesma.
The Tournament.12 tables on the opening day, an uniformed umpire and a scorer per table. 2 practice tables accomodated players warming up for their upcoming matches. Coaches booths were provided ringing the playing area. Everything was standard... very neat.
Pairings was well balanced and scheduling was pretty fair. Hell, who would mind waiting another 30 mins. (or even 1 hour) for his game in an air-conditioned gym, enjoying food and drinks and watching other high quality table tennis matches? Well, nobody was brooding, no one complained of the heat, everyone was in good spirits... the venue obviously did it and everyone knew it.
Matches from the lowest age groups up to the Men's Open events were skillfully planned and played simultaneouly. Game schedules posted bore date, time and table number for the players' easy reference. Matches were called on time. Everything was standard... very neat.
Towards the end of the of the tournament, the 12 tables were reduced to just 4 for the Finals matches... and of course to everyone's delight. Now the "Finalists" are free to play their attacks and counter-attacks from mid-distance and farther. Even the video people were having a field day.
Everyone was having a clear shot!View some videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Xx8HlBVRUResults.The Indonesian guests topped both ends of the events capturing the gold in the Men's Open, 12U and 15U Boy's Events.
Then it was a pretty even sharing of gold between RP and Indonesia in the middle categories with the Filipino Table Tennis wonderkid from MIndanao Ian Lariba dominating the women's categories and LOPTTA lording the Team Event. Mr. Billy Yap of HUACHING was champion in the special Platinum Category besting his Indonesian counterpart.
Closing.The Closing Ceremonies was started by a speech from Mr. Diotay Lopue of LOPTTA who was remembered as saying probably the best one-liner comment in the whole tournament when he stated that
"Metta 2 has improved 1000% from Metta 1"... or something to that effect. Pardon me sir, maybe I missed some words here but I saw everyone must have been feeling exactly what you meant that afternoon... I could still remember that feeling. Thank you.
PSC Chairman Mr. Angping graced the closing and so did Mayor Lim of Manila. Mr. Billy Yap of HUACHING and the Indonesian heads of delegation said their respective pieces.
Special awards were given to special pongers like the "Cutest Award" which went to a 6-yr old(?) boy who can whack the ball with a mean overhead smash. Also the "Best Actor" award went to a ponger who stirred quite a lot of mixed emotions in the audience for the better part of an hour. Oh boy, that was different... only in Metta Cup 2!
Prizes.Cash prizes had been very clear right from the start... and it was not even a surprise. Congratulations to Mr. Ledesma on that one.
Registration fee was higher than what I was used to. WHY? That was a big question for me before the tournament but it turned out it was worth it when I found myself basking in the upper box with my feet up, 25 degrees C, with a bagful of nuts and cold coke, watching Mr. Ferre punishing his opponent with his chop and smash combinations...
... and Mr. Cua brandishing his "liha" like a kris against Mr. Irwanto and Coach Senyong de Guzman in one of the practice tables. Hey, sirs, are we seeing a "Liha Category" in Metta Cup 3? Just asking.
...And the raffle.This really ought to make the difference. Every tournament entry gets the ponger a corresponding raffle entry. So I promised myself to go back on the last day, enjoy the Finals matches and wait for the raffle after the awarding ceremonies. My son joined 2 events so he has 2 shots at the scooter. Not bad at all! A lot of us were in the same boat that day.
Ponger crowd enjoying the raffle
The prizes? In the prospectus, Mr. Ledesma promised a lot of prizes. Come the actual raffle draw, everything was there on the table
PLUS... did they give away 10 or 12 cellphones? Well not sure which except in my copy of the invitation downloaded in mid-march, only 4 phones were listed to be given away. Thanks Mr. Ledesma!
Also they threw in lots of MP5 Players (not listed in the invitation)
and... a 32-inch(?) LCD TV! (not listed in the invitation). Now we surely wouldn't mind that! Keep going sir!
Mr. Ledesma with prizes. The top prize, a brand new motorcycle, can be seen at the back.
Looking Forward to Metta 3.This is just a wishlist. If it borders on the outrageous, well, wishlists are sometimes meant to be just like that:
1. Venue in a mall setting maybe the Skydome or Trinoma Activity Area or somewhere in MOA (I told you this might border on the outrageous... but then media buyers are sometimes inclined to gamble on something out of the ordinary as long as it is exhibited in front of consumers).
2. Maybe some Thai, Vietnamese or Malaysian delegations? Come and get Yon if you can.
3. Raffle also for the general public?
4. Maybe some greens on/around the risers during awarding? Like in Liebherr, naks!!
Again congratulations to Mr. Ting Ledesma, Mr. Jackson Que and company!! More! More! More!
Awarding ceremonies for the Boys 14U. From left to right: Makati City administrator Mrs. de Veyra, 2nd placer John Paul Gubaton (LOPTTA), Champion Francis Garganian (LOPTTA), 3rd placers Ryan Rodney Jacolo (NashSpinner) & Jomari Inginiero (P. Gomez E.S.), LOPTTA chief Mr. Diotay Lopue and Binay Cup top honcho Coach Gigi Aguinalde.
