Batang Pinoy 2012 Finals in Iloilo City postponed

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Organizers of the Philippine Sports Commission-Philippine Olympic Committee Batang Pinoy 2012 National Finals called off the games on Wednesday due to inclement weather.

Overall project director Atty. Jay Alano said on Tuesday that matches in eight sports were postponed because of the threats of Typhoon Pablo which is expected to hit the Visayas region on Wednesday.

“Just for the safety of the participants, we decided to cancel all the games tomorrow because we expect the typhoon to hit the province on Wednesday,” said Alano, who already met the tournament directors for the new schedule of the competition.

“We have to make sure the safety of everybody here that’s why we reached with that decision. It’s for the good of everybody,” she added.

Games in athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, lawn tennis swimming, table tennis and taekwondo, were scheduled on Wednesday in Day One of the event created for athletes aged 15 and below.

Iloilo City was placed under Signal No. 2 on Tuesday after Typhoon Pablo hit the northern part of Mindanao and the weather is expected to be stormier on Wednesday.

But the opening ceremonies pushed through Tuesday afternoon though the organizers transferred the venue from the Iloilo Sports Complex to the nearby covered basketball court with PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez leading the opening rites.

The welcome dinner prepared by Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog for the delegates will also push through Tuesday night.

Alano said close to 1,000 athletes who are gold and silver medalists in the five qualifying legs, were already here and they expect the number to double as flights of other delegates on Tuesday were cancelled also because of the bad weather.

Laguna, the Southern Luzon leg champion, is the defending overall titlist in the POC-PSC National Finals, which returned in the sporting scene last year. Naga City hosted the previous National Finals.

Out to unseat them are the 300-man strong Pangasinan, the overall champion in the Northern Luzon leg champion.

A total of 107 local government units (LGUs) are competing here, 15 from the National Capital Region, 30 from Mindanao, 19 from Northern Luzon, 30 from Southern Luzon and 19 from Visayas.

The POC-PSC Batang Pinoy National Finals 2012 also aims to identify fresh talents and be part of the national team for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China. (Source: PNA)

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