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WUSHU is
targeting a modest four gold medals in the 24th
Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
Wushu
Federation of the Philippines (WFP) president Julian
Camacho said a four-gold medal haul is attainable
despite the reduction of wushu events in the Thai
calendar.
 “That
is our target. I think we can still get at least four
golds even though the events were reduced. Hopefully, we
can get it,” said Camacho.
The
Philippines won 11 gold medals in the 2005 SEA Games.
But eight out of the 22 events played in 2005 were
scrapped by Thailand—seven of which churned in gold
medals for the
Philippines.
Scratched were the men’s daoshu and jiansu, taolu,
qiangshu and sanshou 48 kgs and 70 kgs and women’s taolu
jiansu and daoshu.
Roel
Ramirez, a former world champion and a 2005 SEA Games
gold medalist in the 48-kg sanshou, will not be
competing in December because his event has been
dropped.
Another
wushu artist who will be sorely missed is Arvin Ting,
who decided to drop out of the national team to study in
the United States. “It was his decision and we respect
that,” said Camacho.
But
Camacho said that their losses will be compensated. “We
have junior athletes who have now been elevated to the
national team,” he said.
Camacho
said the Filipino wushu artists are still training in
China not only to prepare for the SEA Games but more
importantly for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where wushu
will be played as a demonstration sport.
“Most of
them are already in China,” said Camacho. “We are still
waiting for funding for the others to go.”
*****
Nothing political about excluding
ex-nationals
By Ian brion
Reporter
NATIONALcoach Fritz Gaston dismissed insinuations that
politics was behind the exclusion of veterans Susan
Bambico and Cherrylyn Lubiano from the Philippine
women’s basketball team for the Southeast Asian
Basketball Association (SEABA) Championships and the
24th SEA Games.
Gaston
said there is no truth to the rumor that many-time
national stalwarts were cut from the team because of
their close association with the Basketball Association
of the Philippines (BAP), particularly its former
secretary-general Graham Lim.
“There’s
not truth to it. The decision was made based on their
performance during the training,” said Gaston.
“At the
start, this was explained to the players what are my
ideas in forming a competitive team and everybody
understands and accepts that,” he added.
Samahang
Basketbol ng Pilipinas-Basketball Association of the
Philippines (SBP-BAP) women’s commission head Nic Jorge
concurred. “We’re forming a mobile and scoring team and
the coaching staff seems not impressed with the
performance of the two players. They’re not fit in the
system,” he said.
Lubiano
and Bambico were part of the team that won a bronze
medal in the 2001 SEA Games.
“We’ve
been training hard, and we are confident on our chance
in SEABA as well as in the SEA Games,” said Gaston,
adding that two Filipino-American players are coming to
reinforce the team.
The
SEABA tourney will be held in Singapore starting October
14, while the SEA Games is slated on December 6 to 16 in
Thailand.
*****
Table tennis holds final tryout for national squad to
SEA Games
THE
Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP) is
conducting a national ranking tournament on September 26
at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium that will serve as final
tryout for the team to the 24th Southeast Asian Games.
TATAP
president Vic Balbuena said the tournament intends to
pick the top five players in the men’s and women’s
category. They will all get the chance for slots in the
national team to the SEA Games.
“Everyone is included, including the current-members of
the national team,” said Valbuena, who admitted that the
leadership crisis that hit the association early this
year has affected the team’s preparation for the SEA
Games.
“We
started a bit late because of the turmoil but we’re now
on the right track,” Valbuena added.
The
tournament is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Rajah
Sulaiman-Manila with Sen. Gringo Honasan as the guest
speaker of the one-day event.
TATAP
officials, led by coaches Henberd Ortalla (men’s) and
Antonio Aguinalde (women’s) will supervise the
competition which also aims to look for fresh talents
for the national pool. Joel Orellana
“There
are entries arriving from the provinces so we hope to
discover new talents,” Aguinalde said.
The
country’s top men’s players, Richard Gonzales and
Ernesto Ebue, are expected to dominate the ranking
tournament. Gonzales was a silver medalist in the 2005
SEA Games in
Manila. |
