AFTER two martial arts events—karatedo and wushu—have been reinstated for the coming 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, appeals for the inclusion of six more events will continue.
The Philippine Olympic Committee will ask organizers to add wrestling, jiujitsu, chess, weightlifting, kurash and dancesport to the list of events that will be played in the biennial meet.
POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said they are now making their final bid, with less than a month to go before organizers in Thailand finally decide and release the calendar of events.
“On Oct. 15, they will release final list of events. For now, we have a list of appeals on wrestling, karate, jiujitsu, chess, weightlifting, kurash and dancesport. These are the important events,” said Tolentino.
During an online meeting last Sept. 5, a decision was made, in which the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) gave their nod to add wushu and karate, following a meeting with the Olympic Council of Malaysia.
The OCM gave wushu and karatedo a strong backing.
While there are 15 events set to be contested in wushu, the exact number of events in karatedo is still undecided.
Last June, host Thailand made proposals for sports disciplines to be disputed in three venues, Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla.
At that time, karate and wushu, along with jiu-jitsu, lawn bowls and Olympic Games’ weightlifting, were removed from the list.
The 33rd SEA Games is slated to take place from Dec. 9 to 20 next year.
