Philippine Asian News Today Vol 19 No 22 | Page 29

November 16 - 30 , 2017 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY 29

Sports ’ Feature- Far Eastern Games

Filipino pentathlete Regino Ylanan , Asia ’ s first “ Man of Steel ”

Most everybody know Dr . Regino Ylanan as manytime official of Philippine delegations to international competitions like the Asian Games and Olympic Games . Once the secretary-treasurer of the mow-defunct Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation who had a hand in preparing the layout , supervised the construction of the four stadiums inside the Rizal Sports Complex .
Not many know , however , that Dr . Ylanan was an outstanding athlete who won three gold medals in athletics in the First Eastern Games I 913 and one in baseball in the third staging of the biennial conclave in 1917 .
In the 1913 Games alone , held in Manila February 1913 , Ylanan ruled the shot put , discus throw and the multi-discipline pentathlon . He was , too , a member of the Philippine baseball team that finished with the silver medal , also that year .
His gold medal triumph in pentathlon could have earned for versatile Ylanan the title “ Asia ’ s First Man of Steel ” had there been one . Pentathlon is a five-discipline event that included 220-yard run , shot put , discus throw and one-mile race .
His triple gold medal
harvest could have also accorded the soon-to-be physician athlete the “ Most Outstanding Male Athlete ” Award . But unlike now , however , there was no such recognition being handed out in those times .
Ylanan went home though as the undisputed most be-medalled athlete of the Games outshining compatriot Pio Robillos , who swept the 100-yard and 200- yard runs . Robillos , actually led a 1-2-3-4 Filipino finish in the 100-yard that included Jose Lozada , who won the silver medal , Numeriano Rojas , bronze medallist , and G . Quintana , fourth placer .
In the 220-yard run , Robillos towed Quintana to the medal podium with the latter ’ s silver medal finish and Lino Castillejos father of tennis ace and television personality Dyan , fourth .
Ylanan ’ s 18.76-metrer effort in shot put , 27.28-meter in discus and 226 points in pentathlon as well as Robillos ’ 10.8-second and 23.6- second clockings in the 100- yard and 220-yard , respectively , went into the books as the Games records put to be broken in future editions of the meet .
The Filipino runners , jumpers and throwers ended up with a total 11-gold medal haul in track and field , seven silvers and seven bronze medals to emerge the overall champions in athletics .
Robillos actually matched Ylanan ’ s three-gold production , the last in the 4x220-yard relay which he anchored in a team up with Numeriano Rojas , Simeon Paz and Lorenzo Enriquez .
Other Filipino individual gold medal winners in the inaugural staging of the triangular gathering of the best athletes from the Philippines , China and Japan were Vicente Macairan in the 440-yard run , Paulino Samarinas in the 880-yard run , Jose Lozada in 220-yard hurdle and Remigio Abad in pole vault .
Lino Castillejos more than made up for his fourthplace finish in the 220-yard sprint by leading the quartet that also included Victorino Abrera , F . Lizares and Nicanor Atillo to another gold medal .
The national basketball team made up of Jose Alemani , Tirso Garcia , Jovito Gonzales , Lorenzo Onrubia , Eustaquio Sebastian , Geronimo Suva , Pascual Torres and Jose Wilson started what was to become the Philippines ’ domination of the sport that soon will the nation ’ s favorite pastime by beating China
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in the gold medal play .
A n d in a performance , that had never ever been repeated by any national squads that followed , not even by the much-ballyhooed Azkals of today ’ s generation , the Philippine XI overpowered China , 3-0 , to win the country ’ s first and only international title in the sport .
M e m -

Archers fight back , force Game 3

DOWN big but not out , La Salle pulled off a gritty comeback fitting for a defending champion .
With their backs against the wall , the Green Archers shrugged off a lackadaisical start , battling back from a huge 21-point first half hole and scored a 92-83 victory yesterday over Ateneo to forge a knockout tiff for the 80th UAAP basketball crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum .
Playing before a crowd of 15,286 , La Salle leaned on a big run bridging the second and third quarters to stun the Blue Eagles and send the best-of-three series into a winner-take-all duel this Sunday at the same venue .
The Blue Eagles went into the game ride the momentum of their hard-fought 76-70 victory in the series opener last Saturday but wilted when La Salle tightened up on defense and used newlycrowned MVP Ben Mbala as a battering ram in offense .
Andrei Caracut and Aljun Melecio also came up big for La Salle , adding 13 and 12 points , respectively , in the highly-physical and emotional match .
“ Nakinig naman ‘ yung mga players and they really did well containing ( Ateneo players ) lalo na si Matt Nieto ,” he added .
Bent on closing out the series , Ateneo zoomed to a fast start behind the hot hands of shooter Anton Asistio who gave the Eagles what seemed like a commanding 21-point spread with a free throw 49-28 at the 3:23 mark of the second quarter .
The Taft-based squad , however , went on a telling 14- 2 blitz as Mbala and Melecio combined to make it 42-51 at the half .
With the tide turning to its favor , La Salle pounded the winded Ateneo quintet in the third canto and a vicious 21-3 binge starring Caracut , Rivero , and Mbala gave the Archers a 68-59 lead going into the payoff period .
An Aaron Black threepointer pulled the Eagles to within 70-74 with 5:18 to go in the fourth quarter but that proved to be Ateneo ’ s most noteworthy stand as La Salle repeatedly had an answer to every fightback attempt from the Eagles .
Thirdy Ravena paced Ateneo with 20 points , six rebounds , and four dimes while Black added 15 . Asistio had 13 markers but was held scoreless in the second half and Isaac Go and Matt Nieto contributed 11 and 10 points , respectively . ( M . Jugado , Malaya )
By : Julian Ray Fortaleza
Answers from last week ’ s issue
1 . Usain Bolt holds the record for fastest 200m dash at 19.19 seconds 2 . Conor Mcgregor slapped Marc Goddard 3 . Stanton hit 59 home runs thsi season
New Questions
bers of the team were Henry Duland , W . D u l a n d , F . Elizaga , Angel Gachitorena , Damaso Garcia , Rafael Iboleon , J . Llamas , Enrique Lopez , Joaquin Lopez and Joaquin Loyzaga , father of basketball great Carlos Loyzaga .
The national spikers and swimmers , likewise , returned home with the gold medals in their pockets . Gil Fargas and Leandro Suarez swept the singles and doblue events in tennis .
1 . Who will replace Frankie Edgar at UFC 218 ? 2 . What age was Max Holloway when he entered the UFC ? 3 . Who is the greatest cricket player of all time ?