WINNING his first-ever PBA championship felt like rain in the middle of summer for Vic Manuel.
The ‘Muscleman’ finally broke through after San Miguel crowned itself anew as king of the Philippine Cup by dethroning TNT behind a 119-97 demolition in the deciding game of their best-of-seven finals.
This championship was long in coming for Manuel, who made sure he did his part by finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds, while going 7-of-13 from the field.
[READ: San Miguel beats TNT to regain Philippine Cup title]
Prior to winning his first title as a pro, the native of Licab, Nueva Ecija was winless in five previous finals appearances with former team Alaska.
All those heartaches however, had since been wiped out in the aftermath of the Beermen’s latest championship conquest.
“Parang nakalimutan ko lahat ng heartbreak ko sa mga nakaraang championships. Sobrang saya para makuha mo yung pinapangarap mo. Kasi yan naman ang goal ng lahat ng mga players,” said Manuel.
The irony for Manuel was the fact that from those five finals losses, three came at the hands of San Miguel, including the 2016 heartbreaker ‘Beer-acle.’
“Sa part pa (talaga) ng San Miguel na lagi akong tinatalo dati. Actually 0-3 ako sa kanila,” Manuel said with a grin. “Nakuha ko yung championship sa kanila pa, so masarap sa pakiramdam.”
But there’s no quit in the 35-year-old power-forward, who never lose faith that one day he’ll eventually win that elusive crown.
“Actually never kong naisip yun, kasi nung nangyari yung ‘Beer-acle’ sa amin nun, nakalimutan ko na yun. Kahit masakit siyempre kinalimutan mo na yun. Nag-move on na ako,” said Manuel. “Hindi ako tumigil na maglaro. Siyempre pangarap ng mga players ang mag-champion.
“Never pumasok sa isip ko na sumuko. Sabi ko nga sa sarili ko habang nasa PBA ako at naglalaro, may chance pa akong mag-champion.”
The first step towards that chance came when he got traded by NorthPort to San Miguel for former MVP Arwind Santos before last year’s Governors Cup without playing a single game for the Batang Pier.
The Beermen did make the playoffs in Manuel’s first conference with the franchise, but lost to Tony Bishop and the Meralco Bolts in the quarterfinals.
Again, that didn’t deter the veteran big man from playing on in search of his first ever title.
“Kasi kung didibdibin mo yun mahirap kang maka-move on. Baka maka-apekto pa sa paglalaro mo,” Manuel said.
As they say, patience is a virtue. And in Manuel’s latest finals foray, he finally nailed the big one.
“Finally nakuha ko na yung championship, kaya masaya, masaya talaga,” he said. “Kaya sobrang thankful ako sa management ng San Miguel kasi binigyan nila ako ng opportunity na makapaglaro dito.”
And having tasted how it felt to be a champion, Manuel hopes this won’t be the last for him.
“Sana marami pang championship ang makuha namin,” he said.
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