Football, beach handball teams, kickboxers start PHL bid today
In Hanoi SEA Games, three athletes COVID-19 positive
By Joey Villar
AND so it begins.
The football and beach handball teams and kickboxers will be the first Filipinos to get their feet wet as they plunge into action on Friday at different venues, signaling the start of the Philippines’ ambitious bid of retaining the overall title or finishing in the top three in the Hanoi Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
But even before action unfolds, the Filipinos will still have to contend against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threat as three athletes tested positive on Thursday, according to Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino.
“Godspeed and we’re hoping all could play,” the congressman from Tagaytay told The STAR, who did not identify the athletes involved.
“I’m asking those who are still here to stay safe because we have three who turned up positive but the two was already cleared. We’re just waiting for one more.”
Skippered by Stephan Schrock, the Azkals are hoping to come through with a historic performance as they tackle Timor-Leste at the Viet Tri Stadium, located in the Northwest Region of Vietnam.
In beach handball, the Filipinos set in motion in their medal campaign as they square off with the Thais at 5 p.m. (Philippine time) on Friday, the Vietnamese at 6 p.m. tomorrow and Singaporeans at 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Bac Ninh Sports University Gym, which lies east from the capital.
They will play another round from Monday to Wednesday to determine the medal winners.
The squad is composed of Daryoush Zandi, Dhane Miguelle Varela, Josef Maximillan Valdez, Rey Joshua Tabuzo, John Michael Pasco, Jamael Pangandaman, Manuel Lasangue, Jr., Andrew Michael Harris, Mark Vincent Dubouzet, and Van Jacob Baccay.
The team is out to surpass, if not match, its bronze medal finish in the 2019 edition the biennial games in Subic.
The Azkals, for their part, is aiming to improve on their performance in 2019 when they came one step short of barging into the semis following a 1-1 draw with the Cambodians as the two wound up tied with seven points apiece on two wins, a draw and a loss.
But Cambodia edged the Philippines via goal difference, 6-5, to claim the semis berth.
“The team is well prepared,” said Mr. Schrock.
The kickboxers, for their part, are out to eclipse their three-gold, two-silver and one-bronze haul in Pasay as they will be spearheaded by former mixed martial arts champion Honorio Banario and SEA Games gold medalists Jean Claude Saclag and Gina Iniong Ara, who left for Hanoi on Monday.
Jomar Balangui, Renalyn Dacquiel, Carlos Alvarez, Kurt Lubrica, Daryl Chulipaz, Emmanuel Cantores, Claudine Veloso, Gretel de Paz and Zephania Ngaya are the other members of the team who are now in Bac Ninh just like the beach handball group.
Friday’s draw is still being drawn at press time.
Next to see action are Ariana Drake, the country’s lone entry in diving, in the women’s 1-meter springboard at the My Dinh Aquatics Center in Hanoi on Sunday; the rowers the next day at the Thuy Nguyen Boat Racing Center; and the pencak silat and kurash squads on Tuesday at the Bac Tu Liem Sporting Hall and Hoai Duc District Sporting Hall, respectively.
The rest will get to see action on May 13, or a day after the inaugurals.
