THE formal opening of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games will be on May 5 but the men’s football, chess and cricket teams will open hostilities for the Philippine team on Saturday in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Azkals U-22 will begin play on Saturday when it faces Indonesia at 4 p.m. (3 p.m. Manila time) at the Olympic Stadium.
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Grandmaster Eugene Torre and WGM Janelle Frayna lead the 11-person team that will compete in the ouk chaktrang at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, while the women’s T10 cricket team will face Cambodia at the AZ Group Cricket Oval.
Football, ouk chaktrang and cricket are a few of the early events that will be held before the formal opening of the SEA Games.
Former Azkals player Rob Gier has taken over as head coach of the U-22 squad which looks for a respectable showing after winning just one match in Hanoi last year.
The Philippine team will look to figure well in ouk chaktrang, a Cambodian version of chess that has different rules including the pawn being in the third row and the king allowed to jump just like a knight.
T10 team captain Simranjeet Figuerra Sirah will lead the squad in cricket, making a return to the SEA Games after making its debut in 2017.
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