Hundreds of table tennis players occupied the center court of the Cebu Coliseum during the 32nd Erne Jawad Cup. | By Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Visiting table tennis teams dominated the recently concluded 32nd Erne Jawad Table Tennis Cup, which concluded on Monday, August 26, at the Cebu Coliseum.
The tournament, organized by Jessica Jawad Honoridez, table tennis patron and sports director of the University of Cebu (UC), saw the Growling Tigers of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the Iloilo table tennis team emerge with the best results during the three-day tournament.
Both UST and Iloilo won three titles each during the three-day event, which saw participation from over a thousand players from across the Philippines.
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UST excelled in several categories. In the men’s open, the UST 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 came in third in this category.
In the under-18 girls division, UST-Altruist, consisting of Trexiemay Alarcon, Kaira Agreda, J-An Sanchez and Christine Golez, emerged victorious against Jhamaica Labrador, Zuri Chua and Olympia Ducanes of the Huaching Foundation. Negros A and Iloilo shared third place.
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Boys under 18 singles
Joshua Manlapaz of UST won the under-18 boys title by defeating Franz Gapol of Huaching Foundation, while Jebb Jerwin Datahan of UST and Dirk Atilano Keona of Team Kalaw Legends jointly took third place.
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Iloilo also showed a remarkable performance. The under-13 girls team, with Joziah Marie Joie Manero, Jae Nycel Madrona and Elisse Jade Benguan, triumphed in their category.
The Iloilo boys under-13 team of Arsen Belasa, Osh Banas and Kael Palabrica also claimed a victory. Osh Banas added another title by winning the boys under-13 singles title.
Other champions included Donic-Far Eastern University-Philippine Navy in the open women's team, Huaching-A in the under-18 boys team and Ervin Bomban in the executive open 45-over category.
Rose Jean Fadol won the women's open title, John Russel Misal won the men's open title, Jesmaine Tayag won the under-18 girls title and Sheirel Denis Siaboc was the winner in the under-13 girls category.
The Erne Jawad Cup set a new record this year with over a thousand participants, doubling the number of participants from last year.
The tournament remains the longest running and most important table tennis tournament in the Philippines and is a tribute to the late national team member Erne Jawad, who passed away in 1990.
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