CAMBODIA announced recently with finality a 608-event, 49-sports calendar for the 32nd Southeast Asian Games set primarily in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap from May 5 to 16 next year.
It’s the biggest SEA Games in terms of events, but one that strongly potentially benefits the host, according to Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
Tolentino said Cambodia imposed a rule that only the host country can field entries in all combat sports or martial arts, while limiting the others to vie in 70 percent of the events staked in the sport.
“That benefits the host best, while putting at risk our chances for the medals,” Tolentino said.
Tolentino was the most vocal among members of the SEA Games Federation officials who is up against the particular rule, but the Cambodians, he said, took the cue from the 2017 Games in Kuala Lumpur when Malaysia imposed a similar regulation.
“Our athletes should focus harder and train more to get to the podium,” said Tolentino as he stressed the country’s back is against the wall to duplicate its fourth-place finish in the Vietnam SEA Games last May.
Tolentino said Cambodia initially excluded the 50kg class in women’s kumite of karate, but was prevailed upon to reconsider. Filipino-Japanese Junna Tsukii is the current World Games champion and a former gold and three-time SEA Games bronze medalist in the event.
Cambodia has exercised its privilege as host to the hilt by including two indigenous sports–kun bokator, a martial art practiced by ancient Khmer military, and ouk chatrang, also a Khmer chess game. They offer 21 and six gold medals, respectively.
Also conspicuous, Tolentino added, were the mere four gold medals–two for each gender–in artistic gymnastics, which, in the Olympic and world championships programs have eight for the men and six for the women.
“Gymnastics alone means several potential golds our world champion Caloy (Carlos Yulo) won’t have a shot at,” Tolentino said.
He also noted that the Vietnamese martial art dubbed vovinam has 30 events while fin swimming has 24 events.
Tolentino, also the PhilCycling president, said the POC will again “dissect” the events before finalizing the country’s entry by numbers but emphasized a potential full participation in terms of the number of sports.
“We have time to analyze ouk chatrang and see if our athletes can perform well in the sport,” said Tolentino, who once served as secretary general of the International Chess Federation or Fide and held the same position for the National Chess Federation of the Philippines for 16 years.
