Marinel Paguia of TGIFridays Glorietta was hailed champion at the recent TGIFridays Asia-Pacific Bartender Championship held in Indonesia.
Paguia bested bartenders from the Asian region with her extraordinary skills in flairtending as well as her technical knowledge of the TGIFridays’ bar elements. 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up honors went to Taiwan’s Allen Chung and Guam’s Henry Aguilar.
Paguia will compete at the World Bartending Competition to be held in Dallas, Texas next year. She hopes to duplicate the feat of fellow female bartenders Rizza Umlas and Jholan Penafiel who were proclaimed World Bartending Champions in 2015 and 2017, respectively, in historic competitions held in Dallas Texas, USA.
“I have waited for a winning moment like this for a long time and there is no turning back from here. I will give it my all. I am ready to bring home that much-sought-after title!” Paguia said.
Shown in photo during the championship event in Indonesia are from left: celebrity Ashraf Sinclair; Taiya Ryan – Director of Marketing, TGI Fridays Asia Pacific; Roy De Dios – Regional Manager, TGI Fridays Asia Pacific; Marinel Paguia – TGI Fridays Philippines, Asia-Pacific Bartender Champion; Craig Burt – Vice President , TGI Fridays Asia Pacific and Chandra Supandi – Owner of TGIFridays Indonesia