WOW Pinoy

Pinoy kids win medals in Olympiad in China

Three young Filipina math wizards bagged three medals, including the Philippines' first silver medal and another two bronze medals, in the 7th All-Girl China Math Olympiad held over the weekend in Zhongshan, China. Winning the Philippines' first silver medal in the tournament was Geraldine Baniqued, 15, a junior at St. Paul College-Pasig. Her older sister Angeline, an alumna of the same school and currently a freshman at the Ateneo de Manila University, won one of the two bronze medals. The other bronze medalist was Stephanie Anne Oliveros, also a freshman at the Ateneo, who graduated last March from the Philippine Science High School.

Also in the Philippine team were Carmela Lao of St. Jude Catholic School-Manila who has been a gold, silver and bronze medalist in other international math Olympiads; Giselle Ong; and Hazel Shi. The six-member Philippine team competed with the best female math wizards from the different parts of China and the United States, which both fielded several teams, and Russia, Hong Kong and Macau. Dr. Simon Chua, president of the Mathematics Trainers' Guild-Philippines (MTG) and who accompanied the Philippine team, said he was overwhelmed by the country's continued "spectacular" performance in international math tournaments held in different parts of China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

"I am very proud of our young students who continue to show that Filipinos can also be excellent in Math like their counterparts in other countries," Chua said. Chua said that he was also happy for the victorious students who gave much of their time and effort to undergo rigorous math training under the MTG to prepare for the international contests. "They have sacrificed a lot to train. Their parents also spent hard-earned money and also gave much of their time and support for the training to make it possible for their children to participate in these tournaments that has given honor, recognition and goodwill to our country," Chua said.

In the past, the Philippines only managed to win bronze medals in the tournament, regarded as one of the more difficult math competitions since it was started by Chinese organizers in 2002. Geraldine Baniqued and Oliveros were both bronze medalists along with Aileen Giselle Chua of Grace Christian High School in last year's 6th All-Girls tournament held in Wuhan, China. The Philippines' medal-winning performance in Zhongshan followed the triumph of another MTG-trained team of 49 young Filipino math wizards who won a silver medal and 48 bronze medals in the China Primary Level Math Olympiad held in Yichang City in Hubei province last week. - Rainier Allan Ronda (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

1 comments | Posted in » achivement Awards