Filipino teens join Youth Olympic Games
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
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THE Philippines will send a lean-but-mean delegation on the 1st Youth Olympic Games slated on August 14-26 in Singapore.
Philippine Amateur Swimming Association president Mark Joseph said the representatives include four in three-on-three basketball, two in swimming, and one each in taekwondo, badminton and weightlifting.
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The young athletes are cagers Michael Tolomia, Ray Bobby Parks, Jeron Teng and Michael Anthony Pate; swimmers Jasmin Alkhaldi and Jessie King Lacuna; jin Kirk Barbosa; netter Jeson Patrombon; and lifter Patricia Llena.
At the weekly forum of the Philippine Sportswriters Association, Joseph said the athletes are the “crème de la crème” in the world after passing the stringent qualifying process.
“To qualify for the Youth Olympic Games is tougher because there are only 3,600 athletes that should be in the competition while in the Summer Olympics, you have 10,000 plus athletes. Having nine athletes to represent the Philippines is good news already,” he told reporters.
The Youth Games is the biggest gathering for athletes 14 to 18 years old. This will be participated in by 205 countries, which will take part in 26 disciplines.
The Philippines earlier mulled of sending 25 athletes but the prospective bets from athletics, boxing, fencing, shooting, and archery failed their respective qualifiers before the June 21 deadline.
The athletes will be accompanied by a coach in each sport.
Quests
The nine athletes start their quest on August 15 with Alkhaldi and Lacuna spearheading the campaign at the Olympic-size pool at the Singapore Sports School.
Patrombon , who is ranked among the elite top 50 junior netters in the world, will don the Philippine colors at the Kallang Tennis Centre while Barbosa will be at the Suntec 401 of the International Convention Centre.
Tolomia, Teng, Parks and Pate, on the other hand, will be facing tough squads in the 20-nation event as the basketball team is bracketed under Group D (Spain, Croatia, US Virgin Islands, South Africa, Philippines).
Meantime, Llena got a big surprise Tuesday when the POC announced that she was picked to be the country’s flag bearer for the opening ceremonies.
The 16-year-old nursing student of Wesleyan University in Cabanatuan City shared to Sun.Star that she can’t find the words to express her happiness over the good news.
“I am so happy. I really didn’t expect to be selected because I am already contented by just being a part of the Philippine team. It’s a great honor to carry the Philippine flag,” she said.
Asked why Llena was the top pick among the young athletes, Joseph said that Llena “is the country’s first qualifier, a girl which speaks for universality, and has sterling record.”
Joseph related that it is not a cakewalk for the Philippine squad while pinning his hopes for a good finish in the inaugural event.
“It’s difficult to make a prediction but what is distinctive here is that they are young and they kept on dreaming and dreaming strong. They can surprise themselves, they can surprise the nation, and the world,” he said.
Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr, POC president, echoed the same view.
“I think it’s not easy to make a prediction. It all depends on the kind of competition we are facing,” he said.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), for its part, pledged to support the team as he waits for the budgetary requirements from Joseph.
“We hope that our athletes will perform their best during the games. I wish them the best of luck,” PSC chairman Ritchie Garcia said. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)
