AFTER recovering from an injury this year, wushu artist Daniel Parantac is praying that he would be able to retain his title in the taijijian competitions of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
“Mahirap sagutin. Pero I will do my best,” said the 26-year-old Parantac.
It is in taijijian, a double-edged short sword form event that the Philippines won its only gold two years ago through Parantac.
Last year, Parantac suffered a right knee injury and he needed to rest for a year.
Before leaving for Kuala Lumpur, Parantac has been doing nightly workouts to help him prepare for his events, which will also include the compulsory taijiquan event.
“I’ve been doing weights at night and running in the morning to get my self in condition,” added Parantac.
Loh Jack Chang of Malaysia will again be his rival for the gold medal.
In 2015, the Philippines placed sixth with its 1-4-1 gold-silver-bronze finish.
Parantac contributed one gold and 2 silvers.
But this time, the individual category of the taijiquan (barehand) event, where Parantac earned a silver is not included.
And this will limit Parantac’s performance in the Games.
Parantac believes that opponents from host Malaysia will still be his toughest rivals for the gold.
That’s because they will be sending their most experienced bets to fight for the gold against him.