Host PH ready to stash away overall SEA Games diadem
Credit to Author: Eddie G. Alinea| Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2019 16:16:43 +0000
Much has been said of the Philippine’s winning the overall championship of the coming 30th edition of the biennial Southeast Asian Games it is hosting from November 30 to December 11 in various parts of Luzon.
No one, though, of the country’s sports officials mentioned how and why they came up with that projections.
On Saturday, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President, Cavite Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino came out of his shell to boldly explain the reasons behind why the Filipino athletes are capable of attaining what their predecessors had accomplished 14 years ago, the last time the country hosted the Games.
Speaking at the weekly Scoop Forum aired over The Manila Times TV, the head of the SEA Games Federation, told this writer, host of the Forum, that as host, the POC has been religiously studying the situation.
“No, we won’t be cheating as some of our brain-drained kababayans perceived. It’s not our cup of tea,” Tolentino assured. “It’s just that we made some extrapolation here and there. There will be 56 sports and 530 events to be contested.”
“Let me just clear this, our athletes will come there ready, prepared and well-equipped. ‘Yung ating mga kalaban, I’m sure, ganoon din, he assessed.
“So, it’ll be a matter of who’re more ready when the battle begins. Ako,nasisiguro ko, mas preparado tayo.” he attested. “Almost all of our athletes have undergone extensive build up the past two years.”
“Only a few haven’t gone overseas for the purpose of gaining the needed international exposure, like our basketball team because of three PBA Conferences are still going on until today, he said.
“But I guess our basketball team doesn’t need that. It, after all, will be represented by an All-PBA squad, so, no problem with that,” he reasoned out.
“From time-to-time, We’ve been meeting all the NSAs whose sports are in the calendar to monitor the status of their athletes’ training,” he disclosed. “Umabot sa punto na tinanong na namin kung if possible for them to win at least two gold medals each.”
“The answer was a resounding, YES!” Tolentino, who also heads the local cycling federation bared. “That has always been the answer So, we started projecting na on that basis.”
The Philippines, Tolentino said, is competing in all 56 sports in the calendar. “If all the 56 NSAs will fulfill what the promise, that’ll mean 112 gold medals ang mai-popondo natin, that’s 52 — 21 per cent of the total medal at stake. “
“Our gold-medal production in 2005 was only 113. So, isa na lang ang kulang natin,” he stressed. “But we have more events this year than 14 years ago. And “we’re sure not all of the 56 sports can win two gold medals each.”
Tolentino continued that granting that, say, only 50 sports deliver, still a hundred gold medals will be safe in the hosts’ hands.
“But do you believe the medal-rich athletics, boxing and taekwondo and others will only bring home a pair of gold medals each,” he said. “Hindi naman siguro. And these sports, like, martial arts disciplines judo, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, etc ang magbibigay sa atin ng dagdag na medalyang kailangan natin.”
Due to the record biggest number of events to be contested, Tolentino’s estimate is for the Philippines to stash away with the overall title, it needs to win from 130 to 180 gold medals.
Which, according to him is very reachable with the way our athletes have been performing.