PADS eyes title repeat in Hong Kong dragon boat

CEBU, Philippines — The Philippine Accessible Disability Services (PADS) Adaptive Dragon Boat Racing Team are upbeat in their chances to retain their title in the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival, one of the world’s biggest dragon boat race, this Friday at the Central Harbourfront in Hong Kong.

PADS,country's premier and only cross-disability dragon boat squad, will be going up against 100 elite paddle teams coming from all over the world.

"I have seen a huge improvement with the team since our very first international race and since then we have been training religiously since last year.  We already set our mind to defend our title so we will not just settle down on our capacity, we have to do more and exceed our limits," said PADS assistant coach Christian Ian Sy in a press briefing held at Quest Hotel yesterday.

PADS will compete in the international open and international mixed (small and standard boat) events. The team will be fielding 47 paddlers divided into five squads to compete in those categories.

As part of their preparation for the Hong Kong stint, PADS competed in the Cebu Dragon Boat Fiesta in Naga City and in the Boracay International Dragon Boat Festival where they showed good performance reaping several titles.

PADS Team Manager John Paul Maunes, for his part, said that the paddler’s heart and grit will be the key in claiming another title.

"Beyond each paddler’s determination, it is their discipline, their heart and their grit that will make them standout. They have the biggest heart I could ever see, it's the quality of the paddlers that we have that will make us win," said Maunes.