Pinoy jai alai player makes a name for himself in Florida

DANIA, Florida - A Filipino athlete is making a name for himself in a fast-paced sport that until recently was banned in the Philippines.

At a sports complex in Dania, 24-year-old Charlie Medrano plays one of the fastest and most dangerous ball games in the world—the jai alai.

"I'm very happy. I'm blessed. This is an opportunity and a dream come true for me. So I grabbed it," Medrano said.

It’s a court sport played with a ball using one's hand and a basket.

In a jai alai game, Medrano said the ball travels through the air at 180 miles per hour.

“Mayroon akong experience, tinamaan ako sa kaliwang tenga and talagang 6 stitches ang aking nakuha,” Medrano said.

Jai alai was banned in the Philippines due to illegal gambling in 1986, but it got reinstated in March this year in Cagayan.

Medrano was only 11 years old when he first learned how to play jai alai.

He turned pro when he was discovered by a Dania Jai Alai executive who was impressed with his performance at the World Amateur Championship Competition in Mexico where he represented the Philippines in 2007.

“He's a very solid player. He's very sure. He has good core positioning which gives him the advantage when he does catch an easy ball to put the point away,” said Dania Jai Alai players’ manager, Benny Bueno.

But it was a rough start for Medrano. In his first year, he lost his first 72 games. When he finally won game 73, his winning streak began.

Today, he is one of the strongest and most admired players in Dania. He ranked number 2 overall in the last 2010 jai alai season.

“He's improved quite a bit. He's put on some weight. Last year, I believe, he won more games than any other player in the United States. So that's quite a change for a kid who lost 72 straight games," Hal Lesser, a fan from Delroy, Florida, said.

Medrano's goal is to make it to prime time jai alai as a featured game player--the league of elite players in Dania Jai Alai.

He also plans on going back to school to become a businessman or an accountant.

“Jai alai is not forever. As long as you're young, you're competitive. But if your age is above 30, not like in the Philippines, they still compete at age 40,” said Medrano.

At the rate his career is going, fans say he could be the next big thing in the fastest sport in the world.