Big City, Calabarzon bets strike

MANILA, Philippines — Defending champion National Capital Region delivered the worthiest performance of the day after a pair of record-breaking feats in the Palarong Pambansa in Marikina City yesterday.

Krystal Ava David clocked one minute and 17.98 seconds at the Marikina Sports Center pool in eclipsing the elementary girls breaststroke record of 1:19.35 set by the NCR’s Raissa Gavino in Vigan, Ilocos Sur five years ago.

And then the secondary boys 200m medley relay team of Ivo Nikolai Enot, Jalil Sephraim Taguinod, Ivan Nicolas Radovan and Hugh Antonio Parto followed it up with another record-setting feat with a clocking of 1:49.47. It erased the five-year mark of 1:51.18 also registered by NCR in Vigan.

Also delivering a gold in the pool was Clara Yzabela delos Santos in the secondary girls 100m breaststroke where she timed in 1:16.63.

In chess, NCR’s Lexie Grace Hernandez took the secondary girls individual blitz gold and the team mint with April Joy Claros.

But Calabarzon unleashed a six-gold rampage – three at the pool, two in centerpiece athletics and one in chess – that should pose a big threat to NCR’s overall title-retention bid.