Vietnam SEAG and its unfamiliar sports
All the 11 member nations of the Southeast Asian Games Federation participated in the 31st SEA Games which featured 40 sports with 525 events.
Because the games are regional, half of these sports that are endemic to the region, are not included in the Olympic program. Yes, they add regional flavor to the SEAG but more likely were intentionally put into the Games program to boost the host nation’s medal haul.
Some of the non-Olympic events in the 31st SEAG are combat sports that originated in Indonesia (pencak silat), Thailand (muay thai) and Vietnam (vovinam). Arnis, which debuted in the 1995 Games and came back during the 2005 and 2019 Games, was scrapped this time. We could have garnered at least three golds in this event.
Other obscure sports on the Vietnam Games program that were productive for us are:
E-Sports, a video gaming event made its debut in 2019. Our women’s team bagged the gold the other day.
Jujitsu, also debuting in 2019, uses grappling and throwing techniques. We have two golds, two silvers and two bronze medals in this event.
Kurash, a form of wrestling that originated in Central Asia, debuted in 2019. It gave us a gold, 3 silvers and 4 bronzes.
So far, we had been productive in these obscure games and as of this writing, our 39 total golds run third behind Thailand’s 55 and host Vietnam’s 126. Laban Pilipinas!
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Of the 67 million or so registered voters, about 54 million Filipinos casted their votes for the next resident of that palace along a river and almost the same number for its second-in-command. More than 95 percent of votes had been counted and there already is a presumptive president and vice president.
Most candidates had conceded defeat but a bitter someone chewed on ampalaya and cry to whoever listens that “hindi pa tapos ang laban.” The electorate had spoken, you just became a bituing walang ningning. Make a run for it again in three years because for now, my freaking goodness, tapos na ang laban. It’s clear as daylight.
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