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WORLD
Masters champion Biboy Rivera will spearhead the 12-man
Philippine team to the 24th Southeast Asian Games in
Thailand this December.
Rivera,
33, will lead the men’s team with SEA Games men’s
doubles gold medalist Ernesto Gatchalian, men’s masters
gold winner Markwin Tee, Chester King, Raoul Miranda and
Paul Julius Sy.
 The
women’s side is composed of women’s masters gold
medalist Liza Clutario, Jojo Cañare, Liza del Rosario,
Irene Garcia, Apple Posadas and Holly Josef.
Philippine Bowling Congress (PBC) secretary-general Bong
Coo is banking on Rivera to lead the team to a
successful stint in the SEA Games.
In fact,
Coo said that they will not anymore field Rivera to the
Asian Indoor Games scheduled from October 26 to November
3 in Macau to rest his left knee. Rivera injured his
left knee before the 2006 Asian Games.
“Ayaw
namin din siya mapagod,” said Coo. “We are really
saving him for the SEA Games.”
Miranda
and Sy are newcomers to the national team, while Josef,
is a member of the national juniors’ pool before
entering the senior national team.
The
bowlers have undergone intense preparations, playing a
total of 100 games with the players requiring to bowl at
about an average of 220 pinfalls for the men’s and 210
for the women’s.
Coo
could not divulge their chances in the SEA Games, but
said that the Philippines will be facing stiff
competition from
Malaysia
and even Thailand in the biennial meet.
She
noted that
Malaysia
is spending $10 million (or roughly P450 million) in
their bowling program, while Thailand did not field a
team in the World Women’s Bowling Championships
recently. “We don’t know what to expect from them,” Coo
said.
Coo is
also seeking free training at the SM Mall of Asia
Bowling Lanes where the lane conditions are similar to
those in Thailand.
The
Philippines won four gold medals in the 2005 SEA Games.
The
bowlers will compete in the singles, doubles, trios,
team of fives, masters and mixed doubles events.
Meanwhile, an eight-man team will compete in the Asian
Indoor Games to prepare for the SEA Games.
The
lineup are King, Tee, Gatchalian, Miranda, Cañare,
Posadas, Clutario and Josef.
RP rowers thinking Olympics
By Zenaida Dadacay
Correspondent
Benjie
Tolentino and Alvin Amposta lead the cast of
RP rowers who will see action in the Asian Rowing
Championship from October 16 to 19 in Chun-ju, South
Korea in their bid to clinch an Olympic berth.
Fresh
from a two-month training in
Shanghai,
Tolentino and Amposta, multiple gold winners in the last
Manila SEA Games, vowed to make an impact in the
four-day event that is also part of their buildup for
the SEA Games.
“We’re
ready and prepared for the Asian Championship as well as
in the SEA Games. We had a very successful training in
China and we’ve learned a lot. We hope we can be able to
finish good in the Asian Championship,” said Tolentino.
Tolentino, 31, is also a veteran of the Sydney Olympics
and he is raring to paddle his way to qualify for the
2008 Beijing Olympics.
Rowing
is one of 14 focus sports under the Philippine Sports
Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee joint
program that aims to win the country’s first gold medal
in the Beijing Olympics.
Besides
Tolentino and Amposta, 2005 gold medalist Joe Rodriguez,
Nilo Cordova and Joel Bagasbas are also participating in
the Asian Championship, the first international event of
the RP paddlers this year.
Tolentino also promised to help the national team
surpass its previous SEA Games showing. The team is
eyeing a maximum of five gold medals.
“Two
years ago, wala din kaming international exposure
when we are preparing for the 2005 SEA Games. Despite a
lack of funding we were able to deliver gold medals. We
are optimistic that we will sustain, if not surpass, our
previous showing in Thailand,” Tolentino said.
According to Amateur Rowing Association of the
Philippines president Benjie Ramos, the men’s rowers are
capable of winning medals in the SEA Games.
The
national women’s rowers led by Nida Cordova will compete
in the Southeast Asian Rowing Championships from October
25 to 27 in Thailand.
The
other members of the women’s team are Jonalyn Pedrita,
Lakambini Alto and Miroelle Gabiligno.
Same faces in table tennis to SEAG
By Joel Orellana
Reporter
The
Table Tennis Association of the Philippines (TATAP)
failed to find new talents as the national mainstays
dominated a one-day tryout last month for the Southeast
Asian Games.
The
event, held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, was the final
tuneup for the regional intramurals.
Women’s
side head coach Antonio Aguinalde said the squad will
still be bannered by the RP paddlers in the coming
biennial event this December.
“Walang
masyadong lumutang na bagong talents. Sila-sila
pa rin,” said Aguinalde, also a former SEA Games
campaigner. “Pero may ilan na puwedeng i-train
para sa national team.”
Sandrina
Balatbat, who has been in the team for six years, won
the final tryout against the upcoming Ian Lariba in the
single’s finals match.
Balatbat,
20, played in the last two editions of the SEA Games (in
Vietnam in 2003, and Manila in 2005), though she failed
to get a single medal in the competition.
But
Aguinalde is considering the 12-year-old Lariba as the
future of the women’s team. Lariba won a silver medal in
the 2005 Asian Juniors Championships in the doubles
event with Cathelyn Cruz. The duo also bagged a bronze
in the same competition in
Thailand
last year.
Also
making it to the SEA Games lineup for the women’s squad
are 24-year old Crisanta Abas, the former national
champion, and 19-year-old Borja, also a national
mainstay.
Aguinalde said that the team has a shot at a medal in
the women’s doubles event as Balatbat and Lariba might
team up for this event.
“Si
Lariba kahit bata, marami ng experience sa
international competition kaya sa tingin ko may
pag-asang maka-medal sa doubles,” the 41-year
old mentor said.
In the
men’s competition, RP’s top male table-tennis player
Richard Gonzales has been seeded, after winning the
silver medal in the last SEA Games.
Joining
Gonzales in the team are playing coach Henberd Ortalla,
Ernesto Ebuen and Julius Esposo. Rodel Valle finished
fourth in the competition, while 19-year-old Japeth
Adasa came out fifth.
Valle is
a policeman assigned in the traffic division of Camp
Crame while Adasa is a member of the varsity team of
Philippine Christian University. Though they are not
part of the official roster to Thailand, Valle and Adasa
will be part of the national pool.
Thais focused, want to unseat Pinoys in
baseball
By Reuben Terrado
Correspondent
THAILAND
is keen on taking away the baseball crown from the
Philippines
in the 24th Southeast Asian Games.
This, as
their baseball national team is participating in two
world-class competitions in November—the 36th Baseball
World Cup and the 24th Asian Baseball Championships—both
to be held in Taiwan.
In a
story that appeared in the Khaosod newspaper and was
published in the official SEA Games web site, Chaiwat
Chaiwanajinda, deputy secretary of the Amateur Baseball
Association of Thailand, said that Thailand has been
invited to play in the World Cup from November 6 to 18
for the first time following the withdrawal of China
coupled with its fifth-place finish in the Asian Games
in 2006.
The
Asian Baseball Championships is a qualifier for the 2008
Beijing Olympics. Thailand is bracketed with the
Philippines, Hong Kong and Pakistan in Group B with the
winner joining Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in the
Group A stage. The top two teams will advance to the
Olympics.
Chaiwat
was quoted as saying that the program is aimed at
getting more experience against world-class teams.
Besides
Thailand and the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar,
Malaysia and Cambodia are competing in SEA Games
baseball.
The
Philippines bested Thailand, 11-0, to claim the gold in
2005, but lost to them, 8-1, in the Doha Asian Games
last year. |
