20 Olympic qualifiers possible

MANILA, Philippines — With the Tokyo Olympics less than two months away, Philippine delegation chef de mission Mariano (Nonong) Araneta said yesterday there’s still a possibility to qualify 20 athletes to the Summer Games despite recent setbacks in wrestling, triathlon, windsurfing, canoe-kayak, fencing, 3x3 basketball and BMX cycling. So far, nine athletes have booked tickets – pole vaulter E.J. Obiena, gymnast Caloy Yulo, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, rower Cris Nievarez, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa and Eumir Marcial, Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Irish Magno of boxing.

At the moment, the Philippines is vying for Olympic slots at the World Surfing Games in El Salvador. There are 250 competitors from 51 countries battling for 12 remaining Tokyo tickets, seven for women and five for men. The Philippine team is made up of three men and three women with five of the six advancing to the second round of heats. Only Vea Estrellado, 17, failed to make it out of the first round and will face off against Barbados’ Chelsea Boett in repechage. John Mark Tokong, Rogelio Esquievel, Edito Alcala Jr., Nilbie Blancada and Daisy Valdez went to the second round but only Blancada got to the third. Tokong, Esquievel, Alcala and Valdez will try to survive in repechage.

Blancada, 28, topped her heat in the first round, beating Japan’s Amuro Tsuzuki and Barbados’ Gabrielle Gittens then finished second of four in the second round to move on to the third. In women’s repechage, Valdez will meet Elie Turner of Great Britain while Estrellado will engage Karin Lone of Guam, Lucy Jarrard of American Samoa and Anastasia Temirbek of Ukraine. In men’s repechage, Tokong is up against Rory Tuohy of Ireland, Esquievel against Andy Criere of Spain and Alcala against Jose Lopez of Venezuela. United Philippine Surfing Association president Dr. George Canlas said qualification will be settled on June 6, the last day of the event. The Philippines is hoping to lock down the single Asian slot available for men and one for women.

Triathlon Association of the Philippines president Tom Carrasco said the mixed team relay qualifier and the Asia Cup in Gamagori, Japan, where Andrew Remolino and Fernando Casares would’ve competed have been scrapped. Triathletes John Chicano and Kimberly Kilgroe passed on the qualifiers leaving Remolino, Casares and Kim Mangrobang to fight for slots. However, the three failed to finish high in the Asian Championships at Hatsukaichi, Japan, last April.

“Kim’s chances dimmed after her poor performance in last week’s Lisbon World Cup,” said Carrasco. “We planned for the Yokohama WTS (World Triathlon Series) but we didn’t get the slots then for this month, the Gamagori Sprint Asia Cup was cancelled unfortunately.” Regarding the fate of the Tokyo Olympics, Carrasco said the triathlon global community believes it will happen.

Canoe-kayak hopefuls never got to compete after an athlete tested COVID-19 positive and the entire team was grounded while four wrestlers were unable to secure visas to participate in the Bulgaria qualifiers. The Philippine delegation is assured of two slots for swimming and one more for athletics via the universality route. To reach 20 qualifiers, the Philippines will need breakthroughs from golf, judo, karate, skateboarding and surfing.