Philippines looks to youth in Games
As part of our coverage of the SEA Games, The Jakarta Post is running a profile of each of the 10 participating countries. The story below is fifth in the series.
JAKARTA (JP): The Philippines contingent is coming down to the 19th South East Asian Games prepared for all eventualities. The 622 athletes and 302 officials have well over 1,000 face masks between them.
Fielding the third largest contingent after host Indonesia and Thailand, the Philippine sportsmen and women are ready not only to compete in 32 out of 34 events, but to contend with the possible threat from smog and haze caused by the raging forest and bush fires in various parts of Indonesia.
"We are bringing in about 1,000 face masks and medicines for respiratory problems and sore eyes as well," the Philippine Sports Commission chairman Philip Ella Juico was quoted by Reuters as saying.
SEA Games officials here, however, say they do not expect problems from the haze as it has not really affected the city.
Despite the double threat from the smog and the other nine participating countries, the Philippines is convinced its chances of seizing more gold medals than two years ago are good.
Maintaining its position among the best three is the squad's main goal. It means it will have to take home at least the same amount of gold it collected in the 18th Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand two years ago.
The Philippines collected 33 golds, 48 silvers and 62 bronzes in Chiang Mai. The laurels came mostly from its favorite events, such as track and field, shooting, swimming, fencing, archery, taekwondo, judo and golf.
This year, the Philippines has sets its sights on winning between 45 and 60 golds, although Kompas daily quoted some sports observers here predicting that it would rake up between 50 and 70 golds.
In addition to the above sports, the Philippines is looking to dig its gold mine in wushu, karate, tenpin bowling, cycling, basketball and squash. The only sports it is not competing in are hockey and water skiing.
Taekwondo is expected to give the Philippines at least four golds, tenpin bowling between four and six, boxing four or five, cycling two or three and track and field eight.
Newcomers
New faces will head the Philippine's medal winning bid. They might be less experienced, but some of them, including lightweight boxer Efren Desierto, male runner Bernardo Desamito Jr. and male fencer Emerson Segui, have proven their ability to become their country's future stars.
The Philippines' training has involved preparing many of its young athletes for the 2001 SEA Games, for which it may be the host.
They have been intensively trained by both local and foreign coaches since the end of the Chiang Mai Games in 1995.
Like many of the other competing nations, the Philippines has both sent its athletes abroad and hired foreign coaches.
But the country is not relying entirely on youth. Many veterans of previous SEA Games and other international events will bring experience and a track record of success to the team.
Among the stars are female sprinter Elma Muros, male cyclist Joselito Santos, billiard legend Marlon Manalo, male lifter Alvin Delos Santos, male swimmer Raymond Papa, female archer Joan Tabaniag and world bowling champion Rafael 'Paeng' Nepomuceno.
The Philippines is expecting to face severe challenges from both Malaysia and Indonesia in many of its favorite sports.
Malaysia is considered the most serious threat in tenpin bowling and road walking, while Indonesia could prove a major obstacle in basketball, weightlifting and the track sprints. (cst)