Thursday, May 03, 2007 Perez, divers to miss SEA Games? By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan
SHEILA Mae Perez, who won three gold medals in the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games, and the rest of the Philippine national diving team bannered by Davao City athletes will not be seeing action in the 24th SEA Games slated December 6 to 16 Thailand.
This, after Thai sports officials reportedly scrapped diving and other events like women's boxing, wushu, traditional boat race and wrestling for this year's meet.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William "Butch" Ramirez, in a phone interview with Sun.Star Davao Tuesday night, said this development is a big blow the Filipinos' campaign in the biennial meet.
Ramirez, however, said Task Force SEA Games will go to Thailand sometime this month to clarify the matter with Thai sports officials.
"We are really saddened by this development if indeed diving and a few other sports will not be included in the Thailand SEA Games," Ramirez said.
"It will really hurt our campaign as Perez had won three of the total five golds we won in diving when we hosted the Games in 2005," the PSC chief added.
Ramirez said the divers are even set to leave by the end of May to train in China.
The China training, however, may no longer push through should diving's scrapping is made official.
"We really can't do something about it. It's the prerogative of the host country which sports they will include in the Games. I believe our Task Force SEA Games will do its best to help us get the better of things in this issue when it goes to Thailand," Ramirez said.
Perez captured the golds in women's three-meter springboard and one-meter springboard individual events of the 2005 SEA Games.
The third gold came when she teamed up with fellow Davao diver Ceseil Domenios to rule the synchronized three-meter springboard.
RP's two other golds in diving were courtesy of the men's synchronized three-meter springboard with Zardo Domenios and Niño Carog while the other one was in the men's synchronized 10-meter platform with Davao's Ryan Fabriga and Cebu's Kevin Kong.
Thailand had also hosted the SEA Games in 1959, which was the inaugural, 1967, 1975, 1985 and 1995 SEA Games.
The 2007 games were to be hosted in Singapore, but the city-state gave up the chance in 2004 as the future Sports Hub in Kallang was still under construction at that time.
