THE Cebu City Muay Thai and kickboxing team aims to bring back home gold medals in its stint at the 2025 Batang Pinoy on Oct. 25-31 in General Santos City despite entering the competition as underdogs.
“We’ll do our best to bring home medals for Cebu City and make the Cebuanos proud,” Yaw-Yan Ardigma Martial Arts founder and CEO Benigno “Ekin” Caniga Jr. told SunStar Cebu.
“We have been falling in the Muay Thai rankings. That’s why I focused on working with the team along with my son Ian (Johnlery Caniga). We’ll pray for success, especially after Cebu was recently hit by an earthquake. We’re also joining kickboxing for the first time, but our athletes are ready. We aim to win gold medals in both sports,” he added.
Caniga leads the Cebu City Muay Thai and kickboxing delegation, with his son Ian as Muay Thai head coach Johnlery “Ian” Caniga, Emiliano Zapata as kickboxing head coach, and Robert Serdone Jr. as assistant coach.
“It’ll be hard to dominate because there are a lot of talented teams. But Team Cebu City will do its best,” he said.
According to Caniga, Baguio is heavily favored in the competition along with Pasig, Laguna, and Zamboanga.
Team Cebu City is composed of 20 athletes. Seven will be competing in Muay Thai, while the rest will be in kickboxing.
The Muay Thai and kickboxing competitions in Batang Pinoy will begin tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 26.
Meanwhile, two of the country’s greatest athletes will be on hand when this year’s Batang Pinoy formally opens today, Saturday at the Antonio C. Acharon Sports Complex in General Santos City.
Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s only eight-division world champion, and Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, the first Filipino Olympic gold medalist, are set to lead the torch relay and cauldron lighting.
General Santos City Mayor Lorelei Pacquiao will welcome the participants, followed by Philippine Sports Commission chairman John Patrick “Pato” Gregorio’s inspirational message.
Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla will then deliver the keynote address.
The Batang Pinoy 2025 is the biggest edition to date with 24,000 delegates. / EKA with RP2 sports