Philippines wants podium finish in Hanoi SEAG

MANILA, Philippines — The chef de mission of the Philippine delegation to the 31st Southeast Asian Games wants no less than a podium finish in Hanoi later this year.

“If not the overall title, we’ll go for at least a top three finish,” said Ramon Fernandez of the Philippine Sports Commission.

The former basketball superstar feels he has the blueprint to a successful campaign – the same one used when the country hosted the event in 2019 and emerged as overall champion.

“We know the formula how to achieve that and what we did in the 2019 SEAG was we went all out to train our athletes and have them compete against the best in the world. That was the key. We spent so much in training,” he added.

“We’re hoping they (government) will give us the same budget, and the same support needed in training,” added Fernandez ahead of the SEA Games that will be staged Nov. 21 to Dec. 2 in Vietnam.

Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, the POC president, also named karate’s Ricky Lim as chef de mission for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Bangkok from May 21-30. Wrestling’s Alvin Aguilar will be his deputy.

Also appointed as committee heads were Avelino Sumagui (membership and accreditation), Atty. Alberto Agra (arbitration), Patrick Gregorio (ethics), Al Panlilio (ways and means), Tom Carrasco (technical), Bong Coo (women in sports), Richard Gomez (constitution and by-laws) and Wharton Chan (legal).

Football’s Edwin Gastanes remained as sec-gen with Carl Sambrano, Karen Cabalero and Bones Floro as deputies.