I believe this is a local table tennis tournament or just a regular table tennis game with a bet. Alan Neri (Cagayan) is playing against Champ Nanaman (Iligan), in a version of 'street table tennis' where there are no hard rules and a significant bet is on the line.
It would seem like they are "seriously fighting" but that is part of the game. There is great brotherhood amoung table tennis players in the Philippines.
Link from Youtube:
Gambling is part of Filipino culture and occurs in various sports such as billiards, boxing, basketball, and others.
In table tennis, I prefer to have a bet at stake. It ensures that I am taken seriously by my opponent.
The only thing is, if your opponent is clearly at a much higher skill level than you, you can ask for extra points.
There's no trash talking here, though—just two players trying to get into each other's heads with aggressive shouts.
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That's normal. Some kids in my club, ages 15-19 years old, making 5-10k ($200) pesos bet on the line.Â
They might try to get into each other's heads during the game, but I bet they just laugh it off and have dinner together afterward.
