INQUIRER SPORTS TELLING THE FILIPINO STORY TO THE WORLD THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010 5

They’re the ones that got away, the results that broke hearts,
the strong championship bids that went begging in the end

Pain of defeat: On verge of glory

By the Inquirer Sports Staff
THERE ARE expected defeats and there are
near-misses. But it’s the latter that deprives
the jaded Filipino sports fan of sound sleep.
Such heartbreakers stun us for days on
end. We ask ourselves, how could we still lose
something that’s virtually in the bag?
Indeed, in the 25 silvery years of the INQUIR-
ER, many a momentous last-gasp breakdown
by Filipino athletes made us shed tears, just as
we would after witnessing a hard-won victory.
Here are some of those moments when the
enemy crawled out of a deep hole and
snatched victory from the brave Filipino:

No end to Olympic
gold-medal curse
MANSUETO “Onyok” Ve-
OF lasco’s tearful defeat in
THE boxing’s light flyweight fi-
BEST nals of the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics, following a
string of improbable wins in the runup to the
gold-medal bout, froze the nation in abject
grief.
Who will ever forget the cries of “We’re be-
ing robbed! We’re being robbed!” by a disbe-
lieving Filipino sportscaster in the din of the
Olympic arena as ringside judges continued
to score points for Velasco’s taller, rangier foe,
Daniel Bujilov Petrov of Bulgaria?
The diminutive Velasco, looking good after
a lopsided points win over the Cuban world
champion Yosvani Aguilera in the round-of-
16, shouldered the Philippines’ hopes of end-
ing its gold-medal curse in the Olympics.
Velasco’s final bout came 32 years after
featherweight Anthony Villanueva missed his
own chance and came to grief in the finals of
the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, narrowly losing on
points to Stanislav Stepashkin of the Soviet
Union.

REUTERS
South Koreans plunge
dagger triple
TIME was winding down HEARTBREAKER Filipino cagers and coaches react after a last-second three-point shot by South Korea’s Lee Sang-min prevented them from advancing to the title fight against China.
OF to the last 23 seconds of
THE the semifinal game, with
BEST the all-pro Philippine five
ahead by two points, 68-
66, over heavily favored South Korea at the
2002 Busan Asian Games.
It was supposed to be the Filipinos’ date
with destiny, having reached this far in the
tough continental tournament. A win would
send them to a mouth-watering champi-
onship match with powerhouse China.
Olsen Racela, who led the national team in
scoring, buried a triple that gave the country
that two-point buffer. Then with just five sec-
onds left, a desperate Korean defense fouled
Racela, sending him to the charity stripe for
two free throws that, the Filipinos hope,
would seal the game.
He missed both. The Koreans seized the re-
bound after the second miss and then Lee
Sang-min buried a three-point shot at the
buzzer for a 69-68 escape.
The significance of the defeat? The hosts
went on to win the Asiad gold over a frac-
tured Yao Ming-led Chinese squad that came
apart in the finals.

Age cheating scandal

puts country to shame
IN 1992, our Little League
OF representative to the World
THE Series, Zamboanga City, re-
BEST galed a nation thirsting for
baseball reinassance with
man-sized victories over the rest of the com-
petition in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The championship match turned out to be
a rout for the Filipinos as they lifted the tro-
phy for the first time over the United States
squad. They returned home as heroes—even
getting a P1-million incentive from then Presi-
dent Fidel V. Ramos.
Then the INQUIRER inquired into the im-
probable victory and opened a Pandora’s box
in the process.
The series of exposés by INQUIRER reporters
determined that the team used players that
were over the age limit of 12. It was learned MANSUETO “Onyok” Velasco salutes the crowd after outpointing his CHINESE star Yao Ming dunks off the Philippines’ Asi Taulava during their preliminary
that the team’s primary sluggers and pitchers favored Cuban opponent in the round of 16 in the Atlanta Olympics. match in the Busan Asian Games. China prevailed, 92-51. At left is Dondon Hontiveros. AFP
were as old as 15.
which included 16-year-old Mary Antoinette Here’s an account of her the late summer of 1990.
The massive and coordinated cheating
brought shame to Little League Philippines
She Rivero. final stand: “Fighting in- The hype: It marked the first time the
Toward the end of competition in the 28th jured and tired from her Philippines was sending professional players
and triggered an investigation that resulted in
the country being stripped of the title.
needed Olympiad, Rivero raised Filipino hopes when three previous fights, to international tournaments, the dawn of the
An account in the newspaper said the play- to win only she single-handedly brought the national OF Rivero gamely battled the Open era in basketball. And the living legend
ers’ six o’clock shadows—soft fuzzy team on the verge of the medal table with two THE South Korean favorite, of PH basketball, Robert Jaworski, was coach
beards—prompted the investigation. one more quick victories in the first two rounds of the
women’s under-67 kilogram class.
BEST slipping, stumbling and
missing. From fatigue, she
of the squad that included Ramon Fernandez,
Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, Alvin Patrimonio,
The team was also found to have fielded
players from other districts—a no-no in Little match to She needed to win only one more match to
assure herself of the silver medal, plus a shot kick.
could barely lift her legs to Chito Loyzaga and Ronnie Magsanoc—all
members of the PBA millionaires’ club for
League. An inquiry also revealed that certain
team officials were involved in an elaborate assure at the gold.
Then she ran into the hometown favorite
On the verge of tears but not yet quite cry-
ing, she bravely picked herself up each time
their top salaries in the pro league.
The result: A 65-point loss to the Chinese
identity-switching scheme which allowed cer-
tain players to make the age limit. herself of Elisavet Mystakidou, herself the only survivor she fell and fought to the very end. She lost (125-60) in the elimination round. It was the
of the Greek taekwondo squad. the fight, 2-6, but won the hearts of many.” biggest single defeat suffered by four-time
A medal that never was the silver She fought a braver fight and apparently “Only 16 and yet so brave,” said a British Asiad champion Philippines at the hands of
STARVING for an Olympic scored the more telling blows, but went down broadcaster after her gallant stand. an Asian squad.
medal since 1996, the medal, to what many believed was a 2-3 hometown The Philippines reached the finals but then
Philippines went to the decision. National quintet loses bowed again to the hosts in the gold-medal
OF
2004 Olympics in Athens plus a shot Still she had a chance at winning the by 65 points to China match—this time a little more respectably, 90-
THE bronze in the repechage round against South THE STAGE was the Beijing Asian Games in 74.
BEST with its hopes pinned on
the taekwondo team,
at the gold Korean Hwang Kyung-sun. PAIN/ W7