This year’s Talavera Annual Fiesta Sports Tournament sponsored by Nickel Asia Corporation-Hinatuan Mining Corporation (NAC-HMC) was a big success.

Purok uno teams were crowned champions of the Midget and Junior Divisions in basketball, while Purok Cuatro teams were champions of the Senior Division in basketball and volleyball.

The tournament, slated from June 1 to 20, was conducted as part of the fiesta celebration of Barangay Talavera, the host community of NAC-HMC.

The games played for the tournament were basketball for men and volleyball for women. Basketball was divided into three divisions based on the player’s age: midget, junior and senior.

On the other hand, the volleyball tourney only had a single division. Both sports tournament were participated by all the five puroks of Barangay Talavera.

Uniforms of the players, coaches, team managers and muses were sponsored by NAC-HMC. The company also provided fuel for the motorized bancas of the teams that are located on a different island from the venue of the game.

Gilas 2.0 member and PBA player for the San Miguel Beermen Gary David graced the opening ceremony of the Talavera Annual Fiesta Sports Tournament 2016 last June 1.

It was also attended by former PBA players and regular barangay Talavera visitors Cesar Catli and Marvin Cruz.

In his inspirational message, David encouraged the players to continue with their passion in playing basketball and always exercise sportsmanship.

“Basketball is a contact sport and there will always be physical contact but it is just part of the sport. It is important to keep cool and stay focused on the game,” he said.

Both the basketball and volleyball tournaments had a single round-robin format. Since there were five participating teams, each team played four games.

After all the elimination games were played, the top four teams advanced to the quarterfinals. The top team then faced off against the number four ranked team and the second and third ranked teams competed each other.

The winners of the quarterfinals games proceeded to the championship match, while the

losing teams clashed for the third spot.

For the Midget Division of the basketball tournament, Purok Cuatro topped the elimination round, followed by Purok Uno, Purok Cinco, Purok Dos and Purok Tres. For the Junior Division, Purok Cuatro was the top team, then Purok Uno, Purok Cinco, Purok Tres and Purok Dos.

Purok Cuatro still continued its dominance in the Senior Division of basketball as it finished ranked one. They were followed by Purok Dos, Purok Tres, Purok Uno and Purok Cinco.

Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, the women of Purok Cuatro also ranked first place during the elimination round of the volleyball tournament.

Second in rank was Purok Dos, followed by Purok Uno, Purok Tres and Purok Cinco. The basketball and volleyball teams of Purok Cuatro were able to finish the elimination round without losing a single game.

During the quarterfinals matchup of the Midget Division of the basketball tournament, top seed Purok Cuatro defeated Purok Dos and Purok Uno won against Purok Cinco.

In the Juniors Division, Purok Cuatro won over Purok Tres and Purok Uno defeated Purok Cinco. Purok Cuatro continued its winning ways in the Seniors Division by defeating Purok Uno and Purok Dos won against Purok Tres.

For the volleyball tournament, Purok Cuatro and Purok Dos booked their finals match by winning against their respective opponents, Purok Tres and Purok Dos, in their quarterfinals matchups.

The championship games of each sport was a winner take all game. The first championship game that was played was volleyball. It was played last June 18, wherein, Purok Cuatro defeated Purok Dos in straight sets.

By winning in the championship game, the volleyball team of Purok Cuatro was able to finish the tournament without losing a single game. Purok Uno won the battle for third place against Purok Tres.

For the basketball tournament, Purok Uno won against top seeded Purok Cuatro and thereby claimed the championship of the Midget Division. Purok Dos came in third by winning against Purok Cinco.

In the Junior Division, Purok Uno duplicated its feat of defeating its Purok Cuatro counterparts. Purok Tres also won against Purok Cinco in the game for third place.

Purok Cuatro Seniors Division team was able to win the championship game by defeating Purok Dos. Purok Tres won the third place battle against Purok Uno.

Players who excelled during the course of the tournament were also given special recognition for their efforts and exemplary performance. MVP, Mythical Five and Defensive Player were the awards given. The award for best muse was also included during the ceremony.

After the awarding ceremony, a night of music and festivities was conducted with Roden Araneta, Dennis Santos, Donna and the Chicka Babes. The guests were invited by NAC-HMC to entertain the residents and visitors of Barangay Talavera as part of the barangay’s fiesta celebration.