In this second and last part of the DAILY STAR sports yearend report, we present the last four of our Top 7 selections for 2007.

The world title victories of boxers Donnie Nietes and Gerry Penalosa were lumped together and selected as the sports story for the year, followed by the highs and lows of the Southeast Asian Games campaign of Negrense athletes in December in Nakhon Ratchasima , Thailand .

The Bacolod-Negros softbelles' struggle to reach the United States and their stint in the 2007 Junior League World Series in Kirkland , Washington was the third choice.

4. NEGRENSES' NOTEWORTHY FINISHES IN INT'L TOURNEYS

The flashes of brilliance exuded by Bacoleño muay thai specialist Vince Soberano, Negrense golfers Juvic Pagunsan and Mia Piccio, tennis sensation Martina Guba and Gun Club of Negros Occidental standouts Stephen Hinojales, Janette Gonzaga and Tootsie Anglo were also given prominence by the DAILY STAR sports page.

Soberano, 43, captured the World Professional Muay Thai Federation lightweight and welterweight titles in Thailand , while Pagunsan scored his breakthrough victory in the Asian Tour in Indonesia in October and placed second in the Volvo Masters of Asia to raise his earnings to $187,000 for 2007.

Guba carried the country's colors in the Asia-Oceania leg of Tennis World Cup and won the Agra Cup in Manila in October, posted a semifinal finish in the Riffa Views Cup in Bahrain and made the finals in another Asian tournament in Bahrain .

Piccio of Bacolod ruled the World Woods Rolling Oaks Open in Florida in June and settled for a runner-up finish in the Malaysian Amateurs.

In the AustralAsia Shootfest in Thailand , Gonzaga ruled the standard (.40 caliber) ladies division of the Dec. 4-9 event, while Anglo brought home three trophies in the production division (.9mm) --- the senior shoot-off title, second overall and second overall in the senior contest. Hinojales took third in the open division and helped the country secure the men's team title.

5. PALARO, POF AND OTHER TALENT IDENTIFICATION EVENTS

A surfeit of grassroots-based events were splashed on the sports pages in 2007.

While Negros Occidental and Bacolod 's young standouts made their presence felt in the national level during the Philippine Olympic Festival in Iloilo and Manila and the Palarong Pambansa in Koronadal, up-and-coming athletes, especially those in boxing, volleyball, basketball, football, table tennis and swimming, were fielded in tournaments organized by local sports associations.

Swimmer Krestia Angela Lacson created ripples in the POF Finals by capturing seven golds. The festival also saw the emergence of erstwhile untapped talent Jami Dawn Henares, while standouts Kiefer Piccio, Gerard Gelanga and Joshua Balinas combining to help keep Negros Occidental's reputation as a swimming powerhouse.

Local athletes in the POF competed despite modest support from local government units, whose sports officials blamed POF organizers for sending invitations late that left little time for Negros Occidenal and Bacolod to field teams in the meet aimed at identifying athletes for international youth events.

Representing Western Visayas, Maika De Oro of Bacolod City made noise in the Department of Education's Palarong Pambansa in Koronadal where she broke a nine-year-old record in elementary shotput in April.

De Oro's feat was just one of the many highlights of a banner year for student-athletes of Negros Occidental. As hosts, they dominated the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association Meet, scooping the elementary and high school titles hosted in late February.

It was just the dose of good news that sports-loving Negrenses needed, after a horrendous performance by collegiate athletes in the WVPRISAA, dominated by Iloilo and the age-cheating incident in elementary boys' volleyball that marred the 2006 Provincial Palaro.

The Philippine University Games, hosted by the University of St. La Salle in October, drew more than 2,000 athletes from all over the country and saw Far Eastern University once again emerging as the top school.

The year ended on a promising note with the stunning sweep of Area VI (Cauayan, Hinoba-an, Ilog, Candoni, Kabankalan and Sipalay) in the Provincial Palaro elementary athletics competitions. What made the achievement more remarkable were the sights of the Area VI standouts claiming one victory after another, without necessary equipment, like track shoes.

Local sports organizations like the Negros Occidental Volleyball Association, Negros Occidental Football Association, Lopue's Table Tennis Association and the Basketball Unified Sports Group, also conducted age-group tournaments in an effort to discover more talents.

NOVA also hosted the Shakey's Tournament of Champions with the top girls' high school teams in the country in action. La Salle -IS finished fourth in the tournament.

With fresh funding from the Negros Occidental provincial government and Bacolod City , the Negros Amateur Boxing Association revived its grassroots-based programs and staged the 1 st Gov. Joseph Maranon Inter-LGU boxing tournament. The victories of NABA products Donnie Nietes and Joan Tipon also spurred the staging of the ongoing Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament.

6. FOOTBALL RIVALRIES

No international tournament was staged in Negros Occidental for the first time in three years but football remained vibrant with the holding of the PFF Men's Centennial Open in April, the NOPSSCEA and the University Games.

After treating Negrenses to big victories in the ASEAN Football Championship Qualifiers at the Panaad in November 2006, Philippine men's team, missing top players Phil Younghusband and Aly Borromeo, was shutout in the main tournament in Bangkok in January.

Defending champion Negros Occidental and NCR rekindled their rivalry in the Centennial Open with the Big City booters coming away with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory before a stunned crowd at the Panaad.

With an impressive mix of veterans and young players from University of St. La Salle , West Negros College and University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos , the Negrenses installed themselves as the favorites after scoring 18 goals in their first four victories. But their incisiveness was non-existent in the finals, allowing NCR to reclaim the crown it lost to the Negrenses in 2006 in Iloilo City .

The NOPSSCEA tournament saw West Negros claiming a fifth straight collegiate football crown, beating UNO-R and La Salle to the title.

But La Salle bounced back and overcame West Negros , 2-1, in extra-time to win a fourth consecutive University Games crown. And with a slew of formidable reinforcements, the La Sallians capped the year by topping the NOFA Provincial Men's Open over WNC.

Tragedy struck the local football community in October with the death of former RP Team standout Dave Fegidero in Thailand . Investigators ruled out the possibility of foul play and concluded that Fegidero died due to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

7. BITTERSWEET BASKETBALL

With the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) lifting its suspension, Philippine basketball returned to international competitions. Despite its vast resources coming from two of the biggest companies in the country, the Philippines , composed of millionaires from the PBA, was unable to achieve its goal of claiming a slot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, after getting eliminated early in the FIBA-Asia Championships in Tokushima , Japan

For Negrenses, though, that was only half of the story.

There was an abundance of age-group and school-based tournaments in Bacolod City with West Negros College, St. John's Institute and University of St. La Salle coming out as the biggest winners.

Boyet Fernandez of Valladolid became the first Negrense to coach a PBA team after he was appointed at Sta. Lucia, while Escalante's James Yap and Talisay's Reynel Hugnatan continued to shine in the pro league.

Hugnatan, who saw action in a PBA road game in the city in May, helped Alaska to another title in August. Yap also impressed fellow Negrenses when he led Purefoods to a big win in his homecoming game in December at the jampacked WNC Gym.

Former USLS stalwart Jeffrei Chan brought home his first SEA Games gold medal in Thailand, while former WNC center Siverino Baclao sparkled in his first year playing for Ateneo, leading the squad to a third-place finish in the UAAP and winning the Most Valuable Player award in the Collegiate Champions League.

After picking up its ninth straight NOPSSCEA crown, the WNC Mustangs bagged second runner-up honors in the University Games, ruled by Far Eastern. The Mustangs played their last two games with a depleted line-up in the aftermath of the brawl that broke out in their quarterfinal showdown with St. Francis of Assisi School in Silay City .*CPT

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