PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino expects the Philippine contingent bound for the 33rd Southeast Asian Games to pull off surprises.
Nearly 1,200 athletes from 50 sports form Team Philippines in the biennial multisports competition, already the biggest in the history of the country, and Tolentino expects most of them to deliver.
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Tolentino doesn’t exactly see an overall title for the Philippines with host Thailand driven to come out with an excellent showing on their home turf.
“Eto ang pinakamalaki dahil maraming team events,” said Tolentino. “Nandiyan din ang winter events, maraming team events.”
“But remember, this is the biggest Philippine delegation pero mas malaki ang delegates ng mga katunggali. Pero wag sila pa-siguro dahil marami po tayong surprises,” said Tolentino.
Tolentino admitted there were other sports and events that the Philippines is traditionally strong that were taken out, mentioning the case of gymnastics where Carlos Yulo isn’t allowed to compete in all events.
Yulo eventually pulled out of the SEA Games as he is also dealing with an injury.
Tolentino isn’t worried about the situation.
“Ang akala nila basketball lang. Nandiyan ngayon ang billiards, nandiyan ang e-sports, nandiyan ang floorball, nandiyan ang ice skating and ice hockey, nandiyan ang polo. Ang daming bago ngayon. Of course, nandiyan ang MMA, combat sports natin, karate, wrestling, chess, hindi po magpapatalo ‘yan,” said Tolentino.
“Of course, weightlifting hahakot ng marami ‘yan kahit ginawan pa ng paraan na wala ‘yung ibang sports. Wala ‘yung ibang medal chances natin, kay Yulo inalis, hindi na lang siya naglaro, binigay na lang sa iba. Pati ‘yung ibang weight categories. Kanya-kanyang paraan. Sabi ko nga, it’s too personal na,” said Tolentino.
“Ang ingatan lang natin, ‘yung judging. Wag naman pero all the rest, knockout kung knockout. Tumba kung tumba. ‘Yan ang Pilipino, hindi magpapatalo ‘yan,” said Tolentino.
Tolentino sympathized with host country Thailand for the recent passing of Sirikit, the former queen of Thailand, and the flooding in Songkhla that forced SEA Games events held in the area to be moved to Bangkok.
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