BANGKOK —A record-setting Philippine team takes on Southeast Asia’s best, blending Olympic veterans, rising stars, and defending champions, as the 33rd SEA Games open Tuesday with a vibrant ceremony at Rajamangala National Stadium.
Against the backdrop of Bangkok and Chonburi, Team Pilipinas is sending its largest-ever delegation—around 1,600 athletes and officials—aiming to match or surpass the country’s fifth-place finish at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.
“The goal is to match the output in Cambodia,” Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino told members of the POC Media Pool in a press conference after the SEA Games Federation Council Meeting at the Grand Four Winds Convention Hotel on Monday, December 8.
The Philippines harvested 58 golds, 86 silvers, and 116 bronze medals for a fifth-place finish behind Vietnam (136-105-114), Thailand (108-96-108), Indonesia (87-80-109,) and Cambodia (81-74-127).
Tolentino, however, warned that Thailand, as host, is likely to dominate the combat sports events, putting Team Pilipinas’ results at risk.
“We’re sure about that, so I told our athletes in combat sports to go for the knockout, submission, or a decisive victory,” he said.
The spirit of the delegation, meanwhile, is perfectly captured by its flagbearers for the opening ceremony—tennis sensation Alexandra "Alex" Eala and volleyball veteran Bryan Bagunas, who, along with a reduced 150 members of Team Philippine, are set to wear during the parade of nations, fashion designer and sports advocate’s Avel Bacudio’s “Laro ng Lahi” collection.
The hosts announced that King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand will attend the opening ceremony, and local authorities, from police to military to royal guards, would enforce lockdowns, reducing the Philippine delegation of roughly 300 athletes to 75 percent for the ceremony.
Tolentino emphasized that only Filipino athletes will take part in the opening ceremony march at 6 p.m. local time.
“This is their moment; this is for the athletes,” he said.
The 33rd Southeast Asian Games, featuring 12,506 athletes from 11 nations competing in 574 events across 50 sports, will now be held in two main hubs, Bangkok and Chonburi, after massive flooding forced Songkhla out of the schedule.
Filipino fans will look to weightlifting star Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, the two-time Olympic medalist, to deliver gold in what could be her final SEA Games appearance. Her events run Dec. 13–17 at the Olympic Gymnasium, Chonburi Sports School.
Tennis standout Alex Eala, fresh off a breakthrough season breaking into the WTA Top 50, will aim for her first SEA Games gold in women’s singles at the National Tennis Development Centre in Nonthaburi. The 10-day tennis competition begins Dec. 10 with men’s and women’s team events.
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena, the double Olympian and regional record holder, will seek dominance in his event, while Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio, Aira Villegas, and Eumir Marcial lead a seasoned boxing squad expected to bolster the Philippines’ medal haul.
Gilas Pilipinas will defend its basketball crown, with eligibility rules barring naturalized players or anyone who obtained a passport after age 16. Volleyball and softball teams also carry high expectations, with the women’s volleyball team opening Thursday against Thailand and the men facing Myanmar Saturday at Indoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok.
Hosts have limited or removed certain events, including cue sports and individual gymnastics, where Filipino athletes traditionally excel, excluding Paris Olympics double-gold medalist Carlos Yulo. POC MEDIA POOL PR