CITY OF PASSI - TnT's Dave Marcelo came into the PBA All Stars Obstacle Challenge with one simple plan - finish the course without stumbling.
He came out triumphant.
Hurdling all obstacles in one take before knocking down the final 15-foot jumper on second try, Marcelo finished the task in 25.38 seconds to beat two big guns, Ginebra's Christian Standhardinger (27.47) and two-time winner Beau Belga of Rain or Shine (29.80) for the title.
Marcelo banked P30,000 for his victory.
"Sobrang amazing. I didn't expect kasi first time ko dito and hindi ko alam mangyayari. I just tried my best," said Marcelo, who survived two rounds of action before earning his spot in the three-man finale.
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Marcelo first beat JM Calma in the 1v1 opening matchups, where competitors dribbled around three obstacles then had to sink the ball in the chest pass apparatus before streaking to the other court to shoot from the stripe.
In the second round, the Tropang Giga big man capitalized on San Miguel Beermen Jeepy Faundo's initial attempt at the final jumper to convert his own ahead of his rival en route to the place in the finals.
Belga, who won his second title in the last edition in 2019 prior to the pandemic, rallied to victories over Terrafirma's Joseph Gabayni and Raymond Almazan to keep his shot at a three-peat.
Standhardinger, for his part, defeated Blackwater's Ato Ular and NLEX's Brandon Ganuelas Rosser to reach the championship round. (OL)
