330-strong Niños eye nat’l title

ONE of the perennial contenders Cebu City Niños will field 330 athletes for their campaign in the 2019 Batang Pinoy National Championships, which opens on Aug. 25, 2019 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

The Niños will try to impose their usual force in the national sporting conclave organized and conducted by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) dedicated for the grassroots athletes aged 15 and under.

Cebu City was the second overall best team in the Batang Pinoy Regional Qualifiers behind the host Iloilo City last March.

“Whatever the outcome, Cebu City (delegation) will give our best to bring home a meaningful victory,” Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Edward Hayco told SunStar Cebu on Thursday.

Cebu City will be up against 233 local government units in the race for the overall ranking. The sporting meet will host about 10,000 athletes, coaches and delegation and technical officials.

Aside from Cebu City, the athletes representing Talisay City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City and Cebu Province are among the contenders coming from the Queen City of the South.

All the athletes competing in the national championships are medalists in their respective regional qualifiers, except for the events that are offered only in the national championships like triathlon, duathlon and cycling.

The other sports to be contested are archery, arnis, track and field, badminton, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, billiards, boxing, chess, dancesports, futsal, gymnastics, judo, karatedo, lawn tennis, muay thai, pencak silat, rugby football, sepak takraw, softball, soft tennis, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.

The PSC has selected 10 billeting areas to accommodate the participating local government units. Six additional areas will also be prepared to accommodate the additional needs of the participants. (RSC)