MANILA – Iloilo Kisela Knights will have a familiar opponent in San Juan Predators in the two-leg finale of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) San Miguel Corporation-Ayala Land Cup tonight.
This will be the second time that the Kisela Knights and Predators will battle for the conference title following their finals encounter in the Wesley So Cup, which was won by the Ilonggos.
During their lone encounter this conference, the Kisela Knights suffered a lopsided 15-6 defeat to the Predators. But team owner Leo Sotaridona is confident that his wards can do better in the finals.
“During that match, San Juan truly lived up to being one of the favorites in the Northern Division. We just have to learn from our mistakes in that game ahead of our finals meeting,” Sotaridona said.
The Kisela Knights made it to the finals as Southern Division representatives by beating Penang Malaysia on Wednesday night in a division finale that was stretched to the Armageddon round.
Penang Malaysia opened the two-leg division finals with an 11.5-9.5 escape over the Kisela Knights before the Ilonggos bounced back with a 14.5-6.5 victory over the foreign team in the second leg.
The Kisela Knights topped the Armageddon round behind wins by Fritz Bryan Porras and Karl Victor to offset the defeat of veteran Rogelio Antonio Jr.
“It was a hard-earned victory for us. Penang was a tough opponent,” Kisela Knights head coach Hubert Canto said. “Credit to Fritz and Karl for their strong showing in the Armageddon.”
The Predators earned the right to represent the Northern Division in the finals after dominating Caloocan Supremos in the two-leg division finale.
“San Juan is always a tough match for us. They always beat us in the elimination round in the three previous conferences. But finals is a different game,” Canto said./PN
