THE Philippines hopes to qualify more athletes to the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) by staging a five-day pre-qualifying tournament from May 29 to June 2 at the Harrison Plaza in Pasay City.
Competitions in sambo, kurash, kickboxing, belt and traditional wrestling will be held with the winners gettingto join the Philippine delegation to the AIMAG set from September 17 to 27 in Turkmenistan.
Philippine Chief of Mission Monsour del Rosario said that Filipinos have very good chances of winning medals of any color in the AIMAG, reason why the qualifiers in the five events are to be held.
“We have a big chance in combat sports and I’m basing my assumption on the track record of Filipino fighters,” Del Rosarion told the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Golden Phoenix Hotel on Tuesday in Pasay City.
Deputy chief of mission Raymund Reyes, tournament directors for the pre-AIMAG meet Paolo Vitug (sambo), Erwin Marinas (wrestling), Leo Angers (kurash) and Rennie Ross (kickboxing) also attended the public sports program presented by San Miguel Corp., Golden Phoenix Hotel, Accel and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
Del Rosarion said they asked the AIMAG organizers to extend the May 30 deadline for the submission of entries by names because the local qualifiers will be known only after the five-day tournament is over.
The country looks to send 150 athletes and officials in the Turkmenistan AIMAG that is expected to attract athletes from 42 countries in the continent.
Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is being considered as the country’s official flag bearer during the traditional parade of nations in the opening ceremonies, weightlifting being one of the 21 events on the Turkmenistan program.