The Philippines will send 1160 athletes, coaches, and officials to the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.
The Philippine delegation’s chef de mission Chito Loyzaga said the number makes up the list of entries by names that will be submitted by the Philippine Olympic Committee by the deadline of submission to the Cambodia SEA Games Organizing Committee on March 11.
“The deadline was initially for entries by names was initially on March 5, and then it has been extended to March 11. Now, it’s complete after I told the NSAs to submit by March 9,” explained Loyzaga during the weekly TOPS Forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Vito Cruz, Manila.
Loyzaga said while a lot of NSAs have submitted their lineups, there are still those that are still in the process of completing their entries.
For one, Breakdancing champion Fil-American Logan Ellana Edra and local partner Filipino partner Ilyvm “Dudut” Gabriel have been named the lone pair that was entered in dancesport.
This was after organizers of the Cambodia SEA Games removed the Latin and the standard events of dancesport from their calendar of events.
Seven names will make up an initial list of entries in swimming, with a total of 17 slots still to be filled up, and a final decision will be made once an ongoing leadership in the Philippine Swimming Inc. is resolved this month.
There are 57 names that have been forwarded by the Athletics federation, which will come up with an official list after the Philippine Athletics Championship is done in Ilagan, Isabela.
Loyzaga bared that billiards, taekwondo, and Karatedo are yet to submit their final lists. He added that erroneous information placed in the technical handbook that has been available to the member nations is still undergoing changes and corrections.
“Adjustments are still going on,” said Loyzaga. Actions in the Games are slated from May 5 to 16. But there will be events that will commence on earlier dates.
Men’s and women’s football at the Morodok Techo national stadium in Phnom Penh begins on April 29, while sailing, a four-day event, will be at Sihanoukville starting on May 1.
Indoor volleyball at Morodok Techo is set to start on May 3, along with obstacle sports at the Chory Changvar Car Park.
POC president Abraham Tolentino said this as the POC continuously works to complete their list of participants for the biennial meet
Their list may not be complete, but a roster that’s being done by a joint POC-Philippine Sports Commission Technical Working Group will be forwarded to organizers in Cambodia next week.
“The deadline has been extended. It’s too soon. Fortunately, we have all the names,” said Tolentino.
Swimming has two qualified entries in Fil-American Jarrod Hatch and Xiandi Chua are the top candidates to make the final cut, while a third, Jasmine Alkhaldi, is another after finishing with good qualifying time during the recent tryouts in Capas, Tarlac.
Cambodia has listed 608 events in 49 sports, which is bigger than the 530 events in 56 sports in the 2019 edition that the Philippines hosted.
The participation of the Philippines and many member countries have been limited in many events.
The Philippine Sports Commission has allocated P250 million for the SEA Games preparation and participation.
Assisting Loyzaga as deputy chiefs of mission are Leonora Escollante of canoe-kayak and Paolo Tancontian of sambo.