Dream big, win big

Nats play Bahrainis to start quest for gold

MANILA, Philippines —  Eight gold medals.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino gave this fearless forecast as Filipino athletes brace for a battle ahead, with Gilas Pilipinas facing off Bahrain today to kick off the campaign of the 464-strong Team Phl in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

“(PSC) Chairman (Patrick Gregorio) and I talked about the possibility of winning seven gold medals in the Asian Games,” said Tolentino during yesterday’s sendoff of the Philippine team seeing action in the Asiad as well as the Asian Para Games slated next month also in Aichi and Nagoya.

“But I said, since we’re dreaming already, why don’t we dream bigger and let’s make it eight gold medals,” he added.

Tolentino’s optimism was rooted in the fact that Team Philippines is sending its world beaters including tennis’ Alex Eala, Paris Olympics gymnastics double gold medalist Carlos Yulo, Olympic medal winners Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Aira Villegas of boxing and Kayla Sanchez of swimming and world ju-jitsu champions Annie Ramirez and Kim Custodio.

He also mentioned other potential gold sources like taekwondo, wushu, mixed martial arts, weightlifting, athletics, e-sports and skateboarding among others.

The POC chief named Villegas, Paris bronze winner, and weightlifter Albert Ian delos Santos, a world and Asian juniors champion, as the Philippine flag-bearers in the opening ceremony scheduled on Sept. 19 in Nagoya.

Eight golds, if attained, would double the outputs of the Filipinos in the 2018 Palembang edition and in the 2023 Hangzhou Games where they brought home four mints each.

It would also be the most haul by the Philippine squad since harvesting 14 in the 1954 Manila staging and eight in the 1958 Tokyo edition.

Gregorio, for his part, has given each and every member Team Phl an additional P6,000 allowance for the quadrennial games.

He also promised more reward should the Filipinos deliver and sustain the Philippines’ hot run in international games

“If we surpass the four gold medals in Nagoya, I will personally plead to the PSC commissioners to approve additional reward to the entire delegation,” he added.

FIGHT WITH HEART

Sen. Bong Go, who chairs the Senate committee on youth and sports, wished the whole delegation luck.

“Fight with heart and compete with honor, I’m proud of you all,” he said.

Also present in the event were Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo and Leyte 4th District Representative Richard Gomez.

The Pinoy dribblers open their campaign against Bahrain, a side beefed up by former NBA player JaKarr Sampson, Elijah Thomas, Uros Ilic and Austin Ajukwa, today before tackling Kazakhstan tomorrow and continental power China on Monday.

Meanwhile, the women’s football team will be in “World Cup mode” when it competes in Japan beginning Monday.

According to coach Mark Torcaso, the target in Nagoya is two-pronged – improve on the team’s quarterfinals showing last time in Hangzhou and long-term, power up for their stint in FIFA’s centerpiece competition next year in Brazil.

Torcaso’s charges, mostly young guns beefed up by World Cuppers Liv McDaniel, Hali Long, Katrina Guillou and Jackie Sawicki, chase their quest for at least a semifinal spot against familiar foes Uzbekistan (Sept. 14) and Hong Kong (Sept. 17) and powerhouse China (Sept. 21) in the Group G preliminaries.

For the opening ceremonies, Filipino athletes parade once again in an attire (barong named Malaya) by world-renowned designer Francis Libiran.

Malaya features an asymmetrical signature sleeve in vibrant blue and red panels along the left arm, offset against a pristine sheer cream body. Each barong is paired with a matching embroidered cap.

– Olmin Leyba, John Bryan Ulanday