16 Filipinos bag 2nd in Asian math Olympiad

KATHMANDU—The 16-member Philippine Mathematics team to the just-concluded 2011 Asian Inter-Cities Teenagers’ Math Olympiad (Aitmo) failed to take a glimpse of Mt. Everest, the world’s highest mountain, and other peaks in the Himalayas, due to their tight schedule during the four-day competition.

But that did not dampen the spirits of the young numbers aces, mostly high school students from Metro Manila.

They are set to fly back home on Thursday “feeling on top of the world” after winning five gold, seven silver and four bronze medals—plus seven trophies—in the 13-nation contest, held at the Malpi International School (MIS) in Panauti town, located 32 kilometers southeast of Nepal’s capital.

The 16-medal haul gave the Filipino math wizards a second-place finish in the Aitmo’s individual contest.

Gold medalists

The Philippines’ gold medalists were Julius Vincent Sy of St. Stephen’s High School in Manila; Sean Timothy Cheng and Deany Hendrick Cheng, both of Grace Christian College in Quezon City; Reine Jiana Reynoso of the Philippine Science High School, also in Quezon City; and national sudoku champion Timothy James Tan of Trinity Christian School in Bacolod City.

The silver medalists were Keefe Collin Tan, Sherralyn Bernice Chan and Mikaela Angelina Uy, all of St. Jude Catholic School in Manila; Rachel Rojo and Ethan Riley Chan, both of Zamboanga Chong Hua High School in Zamboanga City; Nathaniel Ryan Ang of Xavier School in San Juan City; and Brandon Chan of the Philippine Cultural College in Manila.

The bronze medalists were Kennichi Tan and Shawn Gabriele Cabanes, both of Zamboanga Chong Hua High School; Audrey Celine Lao of St. Jude Catholic School; and Georemie Arrianne Concepcion of the Philippine Science High School.

With one more gold than the Philippines, Thailand topped the Aitmo. The Thai team also bagged six silvers and three bronzes.

Bulgaria came in third with four gold, three silver and four bronze medals.

Overall champs

But the Bulgarian contestants were declared overall champion for winning top honors in the group and team competitions, as well as the outstanding performance of Sofia student Emiliyan Rogachev who aced the Aitmo with a perfect score.

Iran was fourth with four golds, followed by powerhouse China with only a single gold.

They were followed by Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, host Nepal, South Korea, India, and South Africa.

Dr. Simon Chua, president of the Mathematics Trainers’ Guild-Phils., headed the Philippine delegation, along with MTG team leaders Robert Degolacion, Joseph Wee, Isidro Aguilar, and Winsdy Sy-Marcos.

Chua commended the Filipino medalists—all MTG wards—for “making the country, their schools and respective families proud.”

“We may have failed to take a glimpse of Mt. Everest, but we should all be thankful to Nepal and Math for bringing us to the top of the world,” Chan told the Inquirer.

Like MIS student leaders, Jyoti man Sherchan, the school’s executive director and principal, noted it was “lakchya pura bho (mission accomplished in Nepalese)” for the Philippine team.