The Robot Virtual Games National Tournament Philippines 2021 was held last October 5, 6 and 7. It brought together hundreds of brilliant participants from all over the country from elementary to high school.
During the awarding ceremony held on October 8, Claret School of Quezon City shined once again as it captured the top awards in the Sumobot category. This year, participants in this category were given a different challenge as compared to last year. The judges changed the scoring system; instead of garnering the highest score against the AI robot opponent, the competitor who gets to push out the AI robot from the arena with the fastest time wins the game. A new playing field mat was also used to make the event even more challenging to the participants.
The Claret Robotics Team members worked hard and prepared well for the matches, even sacrificing their weekends to practice. Everyone knew that practice makes perfect and there is no shortcut to victory.
After three days of sleepless nights, the Claretian teams emerged victorious! Claret School of Quezon City Robotics Team remained undefeated for two consecutive years in the Sumobot category. In the Junior High School category, surprisingly there was a triple tie! Three students finished with the same time; two Claretians coming from the same grade and section, Xian Karl V. Rimando and Ethan Jadrei B. Penos of 8-St. John the Baptist, and the competitor from De la Salle Zobel were declared champions by the judges. Coming in 3rd Place was another Claretian, Alejandre Kendrick C. Arellano of 7-St. Gabriel the Archangel. Xian and Ethan joined the robotics team last year and have greatly improved their programming and robot building skills. Amazingly, it was the first time for Alejandre to join the Claret robotics team and he already earned a bronze medal, beating much older opponents from other schools.
In the Senior High School category, Juan Gabriel A. Flores of 11-St. James the Great, a veteran world class robotics player won the Gold Medal. Gabriel has participated in the World Robot Olympiad held in Costa Rica (2017), Thailand (2018), Hungary (2019) and Canada (2020-virtual due to the covid19 pandemic). Another tie this time for Second Place occurred when Enzo Rafael A. Zapanta of 11-St. Joseph the Worker, and Leorenzo Antonio C. Dometita of 11-St. James the Great finished with identical times. Both of them were awarded the Silver Medal.
Claret School of Quezon City Senior High School Robotics Team
Claret School of Quezon City Junior High School Robotics Team
The games have just begun! The Claret Robotics Team members who won in the national tournament will represent the Philippines in the World Robot Virtual Games hosted by Panama this coming November. World Robot Virtual Games is the first and largest E-sports platform for Virtual Education Robotics where students participate in the most amazing virtual mats and technical worlds. More than 5,000 students from all over the world participated when it was held for the first time last year as a replacement to the face-to-face World Robot Olympiad, which was supposed to be held in Canada in 2020. This annual event is sponsored by Felta Multimedia in cooperation with Cogmation Canada.
World Robotics Olympiad-Robot Virtual Games National Tournament Philippines 2021’s incremental growth is a testament to the strength of the STEM community. Let’s go for GOLD! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
