A team of Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering students from Palawan State University finished third place in the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Petrobowl Regional Qualifiers 2021, advancing them to the Petrobowl World Championship 2021.
The Asia-Pacific Petrobowl Regional Qualifiers 2021 took place last July 10 – 11, 2021, with thirty-two (32) participating universities from the Asia-Pacific region fighting for the Top 5 spots. The students representing Palawan State University include Joshua Manginsay Guzman, Gwen Arianne Santillan Recoco, Mary Antonette Macariola, Prince Panes, and Faye Molina, with Engr. Jared Ignacio of the Petroleum Engineering Department as their coach.
During the qualifiers on July 10 (Saturday), the Team Palawan State University won against China University of Petroleum (East China) in the first elimination round with 90-25, paving the way for the Team PalSU to Top 16. Later in the afternoon, it was again a scream for victory for the Team PalSU when they earned their spot in the Top 8 after defeating UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta (Indonesia) with 95-55 on the scoreboard. The last match occurred in the evening with a heated match for a spot in the Top 4 between the two Philippine teams: Team Palawan State University and Team Batangas State University.
As the result of the Quarter Final Round, the Team PalSU triumphed at 85-45 and was announced as one of the Top 4 teams advancing to the Petrobowl World Championship 2021. The best 4 universities competed the next day, on July 11 (Sunday), for the Top 4 Final Round. Team PalSU was paired against Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia) in the semi-final round, but Team Bandung took the lead with 145 over the negative (-) 25 of Team PalSU.
[Note: The competition scores 10 pts per correct answer and deducts 5 points per incorrect answer.] In the last game, Team PalSU bounced back when they brawled for the Top 3 title against the Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad (India) with 75-35. In the end, Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia) bagged 1st place, followed by the University of Indonesia (Indonesia) for 2nd place, Palawan State University (Philippines) 3rd place, and Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad (India) 4th place.
The Top 5 was completed by Pertamina University (Indonesia) after winning against Batangas State University (Philippines) and Universiti Teknologi Petronas (Malaysia) for the Top 5 position. Petrobowl World Championship 2021 will be held later this year with regional qualifiers from Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, South America and Caribbean, Middle East, and North America. Palawan State University will be the lone Philippine university to compete in the said event.
This is the second time a team from the Palawan State University had qualified for the Petrobowl World Championship. However, the Team PalSU in 2019 was not able to compete in the Petrobowl World Championship, which was conducted in Canada, due to some constraints. It is the goal of the 2021 Team PalSU to be the first-ever to set its feet in the anticipated Petrobowl World Championship.
The “Petrobowl” is an annual international quiz competition in which schools from around the world offering a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering program contend against each other by answering technical and industry-related questions. (Jared Ignacio/PR)
