(Last of 2 parts)
THE year 2016 was a landmark year for Philippine sports, not only because weightlifter Hidylin Diaz broke the country’s 20-year-old medal drought by winning a silver medal in the women’s 55-kilogram division in the Rio Olympic Games.
Joining Diaz and making her grand debut on the global sports stage was Ian “Yanyan” Lariba, who went through the eye of the needle before clinching an Olympic spot.
The Philippine Table Tennis Federation under its president, Ting Ledesma, and the Table Tennis Association for National Development’s Charlie Lim and Philip Uy pooled their resources to fund Lariba’s qualifying stint in the International Table Tennis Federation-Asia Olympic Qualification tournament from April 13 to 17, 2016 in the former British colony of Hong Kong.
Unable to compete in other ITTF Olympic qualifying ranking tournaments due to the prohibitive cost of traveling, the HK competition was Lariba’s last stab at the Rio Games.
She traveled to HK with her eyes focused on one of 11 Rio spots up for grabs in the women’s singles division.
Accompanied by South Korean coach Kwon Mi-Sook, a 1989 world table tennis championship silver medalist, Lariba set off for Hong Kong with the Rio Olympics in her mind.
But she got off to a nightmarish start, early jitters contributing to a 6-11, 2-11, 4-11, 11-13 defeat to Thailand’s Orawan Paranang in her first match, relegating her to the Draw D pool of the Southeast Asian bracket in the second round.
Refusing to let her Olympic bid slip from her grasp, Lariba bounced back mightily, scoring big wins over Qatar’s Maha Faramarzi (11-5, 11-1, 11-7, 11-4) and Iran’s Mahjobe Omran (11-6, 15-13, 11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-8).
In an epic best-of-7 battle for the lone Olympic ticket in Group D, four-time Thai Olympic Games veteran Natthana Komwong went the distance before taking down the pesky Filipina 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 8-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-6.
Others would have given up after that strength-sapping and deflating defeat, but not Lariba. Showing the true heart of a champion, she found her second wind and conquered Indonesia’s Lilis Indriani in straight sets in the repechage round 11-6, 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 to finally seal the 11th and last slot to Rio.
She bowed out of the Olympics after falling to three-time Olympian Han Xing of Congo, (who was born in China) in four hard-fought sets 7-11, 11-13, 9-11, 7-11 in the first round.
Despite her new stature and Olympic experience, Lariba remained grounded, humble and generous.
“When she (Lariba) came back from Rio, my young daughter asked me if I knew Yanyan, and I told her ‘yes,’” former national player and coach Julius Esposo recalled.
“My daughter asked if she could ask Yanyan for a souvenir jersey. I did not ask for anything specific but was surprised when she gave us the same jersey she wore in Rio,” Esposo added.
Lariba’s Olympic breakthrough rekindled the hopes of a new generation of table tennis players, who aspired to follow in her footsteps.
Among them was Kheith Rhynne Cruz, 14, who also began as table tennis prodigy and was fortunate to have shared trips with the gifted Lariba in TATAND’s overseas goodwill series twice in Beijing, China.
“Dati gusto ko lang manalo sa Palaro pero noong makita ko si Ate Yanyan maglaro sa Rio, na-inspire na rin akong maghangad na makalaro sa Olympics,” Cruz said.
Then came the sad and heartbreaking news that she was suffering from leukemia.
Everybody pitched in to help her battle the disease that had been the bane of celebrated athletes who failed to reach full stardom, like American football player Ernie Davis.
Even when she was already ailing, Lariba would still send personal messages to her, telling her to continue playing while remaining humble, Cruz disclosed with a quiver in her voice.
La Salle coach Lauro Crisostomo said three players on the women’s national team — Jannah Romero, Kimi Rose Dael and Angel Laude, all from La Salle — continue to look up to Lariba, who exuded a serene commanding presence.
“Kapag nandiyan si Yanyan, lahat tumatahimik. Ganuon ang respeto ng iba sa kanya,” Crisostomo said. “Siya talaga ang dahilan kung bakit sumikat ang table tennis sa Pilipinas.”
The former campaigner in the Milo Little Olympics Mindanao regionals and Palarong Pambansa passed away in 2018 at 23, nearly two years after a courageous but valiant battle against blood disorder.
Gone too soon, yes, but Lariba’s shining legacy lives on.
