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| The Victoria Sports Pro Cycling club with their backers, which include former Quezon City mayor Sonny Belmonte. |
QUEZON CITY--Pako Ochoa said on Wednesday that the current crop of superstar athletes has been one of Victoria Sports Pro Cycling's inspirations to strive following a successful 2024 campaign.
An avid fan of billiards since the peak of Efren "Bata" Reyes and Django Bustamante's legendary careers, Ochoa, the team captain, began to believe that his club would have a banner year as well when he watched the emergence of Reyes Cup champs Johann Chua and Carlo Biado and Olympic gold medalists Hidilyn Diaz and Carlos Yulo.
"Mahilig akong manood ng billiards, so noong panahon pa nina Efren at Django, nakakatuwa na nakakakita ka ng Filipino na nasa top level ng kung anong sport sila. Ganun din sina [Manny] Pacquiao. Then feeling ko, itong past five or six years, parang nagkaroon ng third wave ng mga Filipino athletes na nagpapakita sa atin na kaya naman natin talaga," Ochoa said when VSPC hosted a thanksgiving party to reporters at the Victoria Sports Tower.
He then reiterated that proper support is the key for the top athletes to succeed locally and especially internationally.
"Kung maayos yung suporta at training at nasa magandang environment, kaya nating makarating doon sa top level," Ochoa further said.
This year, VSPC scored major breakthroughs as they made the Top 5 in four races, including taking home the championship in the OITA Urban Classic in Japan.
For Ochoa, the glories may not have been possible without the inspiration of the star sportsmen before them.
"Yun yung pinakamalaking inspiration para sa amin kasi kasama sa formula for success yung meron kang pinagkokopyahan. Di mo na kailangan pang mag-imbento ng panibagong formula para sa sarili mo kasi ito na yung ginagawa nina EJ Obiena," Ochoa further said.
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