Philippines seeks better finish in 2022 Asian Games

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will be eyeing to eclipse its four-gold medal haul in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games as it enters in 46 of the 61 sports to be played in the 2022 Asiad edition set September 10-25 in Hangzhou, China.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino made the assessment a week after the deadline of the submission of entries.

“We based our list on our effort to surpass our last achievement of four gold medals — in Jakarta — because we improved a lot in the SEA Games,” said Tolentino.

The Tagaytay City Congressman and PhilCycling chief was referring to the mints snared by weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, golfer Yuka Saso and her team of Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go.

Apart from the gold, the country also hauled two silver courtesy of boxer Rogen Ladon and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe and 15 bronze medals — four in pencak silat, three in taekwondo, two each in boxing and wushu, and one apiece in cycling, jiu-jitsu and golf.

Surfing’s Dr. Jose Raul Canlas was named the country’s chef de mission and vowed to leave no stones unturned.

“We started working on the Asian Games because next year is an election year, so it’s transition year for the PSC [Philippine Sports Commission],” said Canlas. “I’m coordinating with [PSC] Chairman William Ramirez on how we are going to go about the budget right now.”

Among the disciplines the country is joining in the quadrennial meet are centerpiece track and field, aquatics, archery, boxing baseball, softball, men’s basketball, men’s 3x3 basketball, canoe-kayak, mountain bike and BMX cycling.

The Filipinos are also joining sailing, sepak takraw, shooting, sports climbing, squash, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, men’s and women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s beach volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu. 

Also in the calendar that the Filipinos are entered are dancesports’s breaking, men’s dragon boat, equestrian, fencing, men’s football, golf, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, judo, jiu-jitsu, kurash, karate, bridge, chess, esports, xiangqi, modern pentathlon, skateboarding, rowing and men’s rugby.