Saturday, December 02, 2006
Rain or shine, show goes on
By Jaime A. Frias
Sun.Star Correspondent
FOR one hour and thirty minutes, rain threatened to spoil the pre-show and opening ceremonies of the 15th Asian Games at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
Suddenly, the rain stopped and all of Doha was covered in sunshine once more.
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“The rain started to fall at 2:30 p.m. It drizzled for another hour. And now, Magic! The sun is starting to shine, half an hour before my anxious wait,” said former Sun.Star Cebu sports editor Jobannie Tabada, who now works as among the 7,000 volunteers of the quadrennial meet in Doha.
But rain or shine, the show must go on.
Live broadcast
“The opening will continue even if the skies pour again,” Tabada told Sun.Star Cebu via long distance call from Khalifa Stadium.
At presstime, TV cameras broadcast live the quadrennial meet’s formal opening ceremonies starting 7 p.m., highlighting the 10,000 athletes and delegation of different Asian countries marching inside the stadium, the lighting of the cauldron and the pyrotechnic and fireworks displays.
The pre-show, though, wasn’t aired live.
As they marched, athletes from different delegations hoisted their national flags and banners, a traditional in international meets.
Medal hunt
The Philippine Team, which has 229 athletes, will begin its hunt for medals at today in swimming, judo, shooting and weightlifting.
Miguel Molina, Erica Totten, Maria Giogina Gandionco and Denjylie Cordero in swimming; Gay Josefina Corral, Ana Maria Gana and Veneranda Garcia in shooting; Hidilyn Diaz in weightlifting; and Tomohiko Hoshina in Judo will try to win their qualifying rounds to make it to the medal rounds today.
Molina will compete in the men’s 400 m individual medley and 200 m butterfly, Totten in the 100 m butterfly and 200 m freestyle, Gandionco in the 200 m freestyle, while Cordero in the women’s 50 m breaststroke.
In shooting, Corral, Gana and Garcia will shoot in the women’s trap category.
Diaz will lift in women’s 53 kg in weightlifting.
More bets
In judo, Hoshina takes on Makhmadamin Khonov of Tajikistan in the men’s +100 kg round of 16 at bracket A.
Aside from the medals at stake today, the country’s bets in boxing, chess, artistic gymnastics, chess and soft tennis will start competing.
The RP boxers—composed of Godfrey Castro, Violito Payla, Joan Tipon, Anthony Marcialm Genebert Basadre, Delfin Boholst, Wilfredo Lopez and Joven Frances—will fight today in their qualification rounds at the Aspire Hall 5.
Castro fights in the 48 kg, Payla in 51 kg, Tipon in 54 kg, Marcial in 57 kg, Basadre in 60 kg, Boholst in 64 kg, Lopez in 69 kg and Frances in the 75 kg division.
The country’s chessers—composed of International Master Ronald Dableo and 14-year-old Jedara Docena of Tagbilaran City—start to duel in their individual rapid matches.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (December 2, 2006 issue)
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