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Something to crow about? Not!Date: 15.12.2006
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team Philippines
DOHA—A year after celebrating its first-ever championship in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, Filipino athletes took a beating in the 15th Asian Games here.
The 229-strong Philippine contingent did win four gold medals, thanks to two boxers who didn’t flinch when the going got tough, a billiards ace who suffered the ignominy of a bitter loss before rising from the ashes, and a wushu artist who showed he was really a cut above the rest in his sport.
Still, the Filipinos fell short in sports their countrymen expect them to excel at such as bowling, karatedo, swimming, golf and taekwondo.
Sure, the four-gold medal haul was better than the three the Philippines won in Busan four years ago, but a one-gold improvement in four years is not something to crow about when the entire sporting world has gone up the ladder when it comes to sports development.
New heroes
Billiards’ 9-Ball king Antonio Gabica, boxers Violito Payla and Joan Tipon and wushu’s Rene Catalan will go home richer by P1.5 million or more, and will be feted as the country’s brand-new heroes by people starving for role models to emulate.
Less heralded, but equally deserving of praise are silver medalists Jeffrey de Luna, karate’s Ma. Marna Pabillore, taekwondo’s Mary Antoinette Rivero and Tshomlee Go and wushu’s Eduard Ayangwa Folayang, who became the last Filipino bidder to win a medal, when he lost to China’s Yanfei Xu in the final of their 70-kg duel.
Gabica, too, earned a silver when he bowed to a Japanese in the 8-Ball final, a loss that ignited a fire in his belly in the 9-Ball contest. Too bad, compatriot and friend De Luna, had to be the recipient of Gabica’s late surge.
Then, there’s the bronze medalists who gave it their all but found the field too tough and classy to overcome.
Boxing’s Godfrey Castro and Genebert Basadre, golfer Michael Bibat, tennis ace Cecil Mamiit in the men’s singles and Mamiit and partner Eric Taino in the men’s doubles and jins Veronica Domingo, Kathleen Eunice Alora and Manuel Rivero did their share to make the country proud in their own way.
There were quite a number of near-misses, too, in several fronts, but the combination of the lack of training and exposure, a world-class field and the cold weather proved too much for these overmatched warriors.
In all, the Philippines’ 4-6-9 (gold-silver-bronze) haul stood at 18th place at the end of the 15-day contest, way below Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand, Malaysia and even tiny nation Singapore.
The Thais, putting premium in sports where they can excel such as shooting, sepak takraw, sailing and bodybuilding, won 13 gold medals on top of 15 silvers and 26 bronzes to finish fifth in the medal table behind China (164-88-63), Korea ( 58-53-82), Japan (50-71-77) and Kazakhstan (23-19-43).
The Malaysians are the next best Southeast Asian country at 10th place with an 8-17-17 harvest, while the Singaporeans sit comfortably at 12th place with a 7-12 -27 output.
The Philippines is ahead of Vietnam (3-13-7), Indonesia (2-3-15) and Myanmar (0-4-7) in the standings, but only a week ago, the Filipinos were lagging behind these countries as they struggled to find their way to a medal.
Credit-grabbing
As the athletes and the officials trickle back to the country, a sickening mix of credit-grabbing and finger-pointing will once more poison the air in Philippine sports.
To the athletes, of course, must go the credit, but already some sports officials are claiming victory when there are very little reason to celebrate.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Peping Cojuangco was quoted yesterday as saying that our near-misses in several fronts were indications of progress.
“These can be translated into medals if we train harder,” said Cojuangco, conveniently forgetting that as the man at the helm of Philippine sports, he should have worked harder to ensure the athletes’ readiness in the international arena.
And a week into the Asian Games, POC vice president Rep. Monico Puentevella was castigating his fellow lawmakers for not doing anything to uplift Philippine sports.
Puentevella’s pontifications verged on panic as the Filipinos were shutout in the race for medal 10 days into the games, but he, too, should have kept quiet until the meet was over. After all,
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Willliam “Butch” Ramirez, who predicted a haul of five golds, one more than the Filipinos’ actual production, thankfully kept his peace, perhaps because he has already decided to quit his post and didn’t want to ruffle anyone’s feathers.
But on hindsight, all sports officials in the land—and the lawmakers who were stingy in disbursing money for Philippine sports—should share the blame.
Cramming for the SEA Games
In December 2007, Filipino athletes will once again compete in Thailand for the 24th edition of the SEA Games, and the year after, the country will try to realize the dream of winning the first-ever Olympic gold.
As the reigning overall champion in the SEAG, the Philippines is hard-pressed to come up with a performance that should equal or even surpass the 113-gold medal feat that it accomplished last year.
But the signs are troubling. The Thais’ 13-gold haul in the Asiad and the surprising performance of Malaysia and Singapore should serve as a wake-up call for sports officials as well as people in government.
As host, Thailand will make sure that the odds will be stacked on its favor, and while a second-place finish should not be the main objective, the Filipinos will have to work doubly harder to retain their dominance in the region.
But there are only a few months before next year’s meet and the athletes should go back to training as soon as they go back home. The next SEAG should also be one of the gauges for athletes who wish to make it to Beijing, but sports officials should embark on a serious two-year program starting early next year if we all want to see the Philippine flag floating in the sky and the Philippine national anthem sung with fervor.
But the bigger question is, do our officials have the strength of will, not to mention the resources, to accomplish all these?
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