THE Philippine Olympic Committee culled an 814-strong Team Philippines to the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games following the completion of two consultative meetings with National Sports Associations last Monday.
Cambodia has programmed 49 sports for the May 5 to 16, 2023 Games, with the POC eyeing full participation in the competition that offers 608 gold medals–the most in Games history.
“It’s again a fighting team and the goal is to send the best full contingent as possible,” POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said during the second consultative meeting with NSAs whose sports are on the Cambodia program.
The POC met with representatives from combat sports or martial arts last week and concluded the meeting with their counterparts from ball games and other disciplines.
Baseball chief Chito Loyzaga, the chef de mission to the Cambodia Games, was with his deputies Leonora Escollante (canoe kayak) and Paolo Tancongquian (sambo) in the meetings held at the East Ocean Garden Restaurant in Pasay City.
The Philippines sent 656 athletes who competed in 38 sports in the Vietnam SEA Games last May, while the country had the privilege of fielding close to a thousand athletes when it hosted the 2019 edition where it emerged overall champion.
The entry by numbers per sports are: dancesports 12, esports 45, fencing 24, fin swimming 9, gymnastics (aerobics and artistic) 13, jet ski 8, obstacle sports 20, sailing 8, triathlon 10, athletics 47, aquatics 39, diving 2, bodybuilding 15, cycling 28, weightlifting 14, water polo 26, badminton 16, basketball 32, billiards 12, cricket 15, floorball 40, football 46, golf 7, hockey 24, petanque 16, soft tennis 12, sepak takraw 22, table tennis 10, tennis 12, volleyball 28, beach volleyball 16, arnis 12, boxing 11, jiujitsu 6, judo 10, karate 19, kickboxing 12, kun bokator 9, muay 14, pencak silat 17, taekwondo 25, vovinam 28, wrestling 18 and wushu 20.
Competitions in the 32nd SEA Games are expected to benefit the hosts, who imposed a rule that they are the only country that can field a 100-percent participation in combat sports or martial arts.
