MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine sepak takraw team will have a busy calendar ahead as it steps up its medal campagin in the 30th Southeast Asian Games in December with the backing of Go For Gold.
The 2016 world champions will begin their buildup in the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia on April 26-May 4.
“The key is to expose our players to as many overseas tournaments as possible so they gain more experience against different opponents,” said sepak takraw president Karen Tanchanco-Caballero.
Go For Gold godfather Jeremy Go has committed all-out support to sepak takraw’s buildup for the Games set Nov. 30-Dec. 11.
After the Arafura meet, both men’s and women’s squads set up camp in South Korea and Thailand for a few months before joining several leagues in Thailand.
They brought home a silver and three bronze medals from the 2018 King’s Cup Sepak Takraw World Championships in Nakhon Rachasima, Thailand where 31 countries suited up.
Caballero said they had tapped new athletes purely for exposure, but the team still came up with good results.
“With more games and tournaments coming up, they are really bound to improve in time for the SEA Games,’’ said Go, also the vice president for marketing of Powerball Marketing and Logistics Corp., the company behind the Go For Gold project.