AMONG the hundreds of players in this year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, there’s one eye-catching name that rings a bell for Filipino fans.
World no. 27 Chile’s veteran middle blocker, aged 28, is a 6-foot-8 defender born in the nation’s capital city of Santiago and has played for Purdue Fort Wayne in Division I of the US NCAA.
He has so far produced 12 points on nine attacks and three blocks in Chile’s winless campaign in Pool E of the FIVB Worlds.
His name? Tomas Gago.
It’s spelt and pronounced exactly the way locals know it.
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In his brief stay so far, he’s had quite the entertaining reception from Filipinos at the fan zone where players get the chance to interact with fans after their matches.
As one would expect, chants of ‘Gago!’ echoed from the stands and at the Mall of Asia Arena fan zone.
But does an unknowing Gago like him feel delighted or weirded out?
“I know, yeah. I’ve heard about it. I think it’s quite funny,” Gago told SPIN.ph.
His name might’ve been a running joke for local fans, but he’s more than willing to go along for the ride in the last few days of his stay in Manila as Chile bowed out of playoff contention in a 17-25, 12-25, 12-25 loss to Bulgaria on Wednesday.
“I don’t feel offended at all. I don’t really know the meaning, exactly. I know it’s kind of like silly or something like that,” Gago said.
“But I’m very happy to be receiving love from Filipinos and I’m very happy to have experienced it [with my name] here.”
SPIN.ph made sure not to leave Gago hanging and explained what his name meant in the local context.
Gago laughed at the thought and walked to the fan zone with a giggling smile on his face.
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