LOOKING ahead, Philippine Olympic Committee president and Tagaytay Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino expressed confidence the country would surpass its haul of four gold medals in the 2018 Asian Games when the 19th edition of the continental meet is held in Hangzhou, China in September.
“Sigurado ‘yun although I won’t say how many golds we will win. Definitely more than four,” Tolentino said yesterday in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Philippine Sports Commission conference room.
In one of their best outings in the Asiad, Filipino campaigners bag four gold, two silver and 15 bronze medals in the Asian Games five years ago in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and the South Sumatran city of Palembang.
Fil-Japanese golfer Yuka Saso accounted for two gold medals by anchoring a sweep of the women’s individual and team mints in the company of Bianca Pagdanganan and Louis Kaye Go.
The other two were delivered by veteran weightlifter Hidylin Diaz and Margielyn Arda Didal, who made her Asiad debut by ruling the women’s street skateboarding event at the Jakabaring Sports Complex in Palembang.
Appearing as the sole guest in the public sports program backed by the POC, PSC, Milo, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp and San Miguel Corp., Tolentino cited pole vaulter and Asian record holder Ernest John Obiena as a cinch to clinch a gold medal.
He also mentioned Fil-Canadian swimmer Kayla Sanchez and Fil-Am and former world breaking champion Logan Edra, as possible gold prospects.
“Mayroon pa rin tayo diyan sa weightlifting and boxing while (tennis star) Alex Eala has also indicated she wants to compete for the country in the Asian Games,” Tolentino said, adding pro boxer and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Felix Eumir Marcial is committed to compete in Hangzhou.
He revealed that together with some POC officials, “we already made a study of athletes and the sports where we will be competing in the Asian Games. We came up with around 410 athletes.”
The gold and silver medalists in the last Cambodia Southeast Asian Games will be given preference for the Asian Games while some team disciplines like rugby 7s, baseball, softball and squash, which have done well in international play, are also being considered.
He said the POC will have two classifications of athletes and sports that will compete in the Asian Games: disciplines that will get outright POC endorsement and funding by the PSC, while others will have to pay on their own.
“We will have what we call Group B or the ‘KKB’ group since definitely they will not have POC endorsement, and the National Sports Associations understand. I will reiterate this policy during the POC General Assembly meeting this week,” Tolentino said.
Aiming to set an example, Tolentino, also the PhilCycling president, said only Cambodia SEA Games silver medalist Ariana Evangelista and BMX rider Patrick Coo, who copped a silver in an Indonesia BMX meet last March, will join the national team bound for the Asian Games.
