MANAMA, Bahrain – Buoyed by the gold medal feat of Kram Airam Carpio in pencak silat, at least half of the Philippine delegation to the 3rd Asian Youth Games began arriving here with added confidence and motivation.
Contingents from combat sports along with athletics are now all accounted for in this West Asian country that plays host to the meet that’s making a comeback after a 12-year absence.
Representatives from boxing, taekwondo, mixed martial arts, muay, and track and field had checked in here just in time for the colorful opening ceremony at the Exhibition World Bahrain on Wednesday night.
Taekwondo, which produced one of two gold medals the country won in the last staging of the event in 2013 courtesy of Pauline Lopez, has one of the biggest Filipino delegates competing with 16 athletes, while boxing has six, mixed martial arts with five, muay with 12, and athletics with eight.
They joined the advanced Philippine contingent here that included volleyball, teqball, pencak silat, kurash, and golf.
Their arrival was welcomed with the good news of Carpio giving the Philippines its first gold medal even with the multi-sports event yet to formally open.
The charming pesilat from Santa Cruz, Laguna topped the girls’ 51-55 kg with a 33-19 romp over Qiken Dwi Tata Olifia of Indonesia on Monday as the Filipinos broke through the medal tally of the 45-nation meet.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Bambol Tolentino and Chef De Mission Tats Suzara were on hand at the Exhibition World Bahrain World Hall 1 along with several Filipino delegates to celebrate Carpio’s triumph.
Arriving in the next few days are athletes from triathlon, cycling, weightlifting, table tennis, badminton, wrestling, swimming, and jiu-jitsu. POC Pool
