Philippines to Host 2019 Asia Sudoku Championship

The Philippines will be hosting the 2019 Asia Sudoku Championship (ASC) in January.

This was bared during the signing of a new memorandum of agreement on May 30 for the holding of five math contests in the country by the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines (MTG) represented by president Dr. Isidro Aguilar, Dr. Simon Chua and Myrna Agtarap, and exclusive sponsor SM Supermalls represented by Millie Dizon, SM senior vice president for marketing.

According to Aguilar, 2019 Asia Sudoku Championship will be held on Jan. 25 and 26, 2019 at SM City Clark in Angeles, Pampanga. The contest is sanctioned by the World Puzzle Federation (WPF), which organizes the World Sudoku Championship (WSC). This year, the ASC was held in Jeju Island, South Korea.

“We’re looking forward to the international contest. We were able to see one in Iloilo and we were amazed at how the parents and the children got together for it. This is something we look forward to this time in the country,” said Dizon.

Aguilar said this will be the first time that the country will host the Asia Sudoku Championship, which is expected to attract the best sudoku players in the region.

Under the agreement, besides the ASC, selected SM Supermalls will also be the venue for the 13th Philippines Super Sudoku Challenge (PSSC), MTG-SM-DepEd Family Math Quest, National Mathematical Olympiad for Senior High School, 2018 MTG-SM-SHARP-DepEd Math Trail and Problem Solving Competitions.

The 13th PSSC regional elimination rounds will be held on Sept. 29 at SM Supermalls in Cebu, Pampanga, Cagayan de Oro, Dasmarinas (Cavite), Iloilo, Lucena, Baliwag, Bacolod, Lipa (Batangas), Rosales (Pangasinan), Tarlac, Davao, Naga, Olongapo and Marikina. The PSSC national finals will be held on Nov. 24.

In addition, the Math Trail contest is on Oct. 14 and the Family Math Quest and National Mathematical Olympiad for Senior High School will be held on Nov. 10.

“We are very happy and privileged to be partnering again with MTG. We’ve been partners for many years. We’ve seen how these children have grown and they really brought much honor to the country,” said Dizon.

Dizon explained that supporting these contests is part of SM’s advocacy.

“We try to reach out to other people. We want to show them that we’re not only about commercial but we also partner with groups that can help make better citizens,” she said. (MTG)