Team RP departs for TAFISA meet

Tagaytay Mayor and chef de mission Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino is optimistic that the “lean and mean Team Philippines will win medals” in the TAFISA World Sports for All Games slated Sept. 26-Oct. 2 in Busan, Korea.

Backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, the Filipinos will compete in wushu, muay thai and dance sport in the International Olympic Committee-patronized games, which have lured around 10,000 athletes from 100 countries.

Tolentino, also the secretary general of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, is pinning his hopes on Beijing Olympics wushu gold medalist Willy Wang to deliver the goods again.

Aside from winning an Olympic gold, Wang is also 2007 World and Southeast Asian Games and 2008 Asian champion.

Tolentino and his wards left early this morning in time for the opening ceremony of the fourth TAFISA competition tomorrow. The first three TAFISA meets were held in Bonn, Germany; Bangkok, Thailand; and Hanover, Germany.

The other members of Team Philippines are wushu’s Mary Jane Estimar, Benjie Rivera, Pedro Quina, and Marie Stephanie Agbay, muay thai’s Roland Claro, Romnick Pabalate, Jonathan Polosan, Ricalene Aquino, May Libao, Maricel Subang, Jay Olod and Jay Harold Gregorio, and dancesport’s Filomena Salvador and Melvin dela Serna.

Estimar and Rivera won a silver and a bronze, respectively, in the Beijing Olympics, while Claro and Pabalate emerged 2004 world titleholder and 2007 Asian gold medalist, respectively.

The other medal winners are Polosan (gold, 10th Prince Cup in Bangkok), Aquino (Silver, 10th Prince’s Cup), Quina (gold, 2005 SEAG), Agbay (gold, silver, 2007 Asian junior championships), Libao (silver, 2007 SEAG), Subang (silver, 2007 SEAG), Olod (bronze, 2007 SEAG and 2007 Prince’s Cup), Gregorio (bronze, 2007 Prince’s Cup) and Salvador (gold, 2007 SEAG).

Salvador and De la Serna will compete in dancesport’s lone event – Argentine Tango.

The multi-sport competition, also called “2008 Busan World TreX (traditional, electronic and extreme) Games”, will feature traditional sports, games, dances and martial arts blended with electronic and extreme games.

The Busan TreX Games will erase the boundaries between generations to create world’s sports and cultural festival. Traditional sports like muay thai, sambo, wushu, qigong, zurmakeh, belt wrestling, tango, kite flying, flying disc gate bowl, bowling, lawn bowls, archery, pankration, BMX, off-road motorbike, aggressive inline skate, skateboard, sports climbing, wake board, water ski, among others, will be conducted.

The sixth IOC World Forum on Sports, Education and Culture will be held during the games.