By REYNALD MAGALLON
BANGKOK, Thailand – As the festive mood subsides after the colorful yet intimate opening ceremony, the Philippine team now turns its focus to the actual games with a huge chunk of the delegation opening their respective bids across 25 sports in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, Wednesday, Dec. 10 here.
A total of 31 gold medals will be up for grabs with centerpiece event swimming already dangling six right at the opening day of the competitions at the SAT Swimming Pool
Logan Wataru Noguchi and Joran Paul Orogo are hoping to make a splash for the Philippine team as they aim for final spots in the men’s 100m backstroke while Gian Christopher Santos looks to do the same in the 200m individual medley.
Kyla Louisse Bulaga and Jasmine Mojdeh are also plunging into action in the women’s 200m butterfly just as Miranda Jenner also opens her bid in the 50m breaststroke.
All the preliminaries will be in the morning session while the Finals are taking place in the afternoon at 7 p.m. (Manila time).
The PH boxers are also seeing action on the opening day.
Olympian Nesthy Petecio will be leading the charge for PH boxers as he vies for a quarterfinals spot in the round of 16 in the 60-kilogram division at the Chulalongkorn University Sports Center.
Also seeing action are Ian Clark Bautista (57kg), Junmilardo Ogayre (60kg), Jay Baricuatro (48kg) and Flint Jara (54kg).
Joining Petecio on the women’s side is Claudine Veloso, who won a gold medal in kickboxing in the last edition of the SEA Games but will be making her debut in boxing in the 54kg class.
“Knockout kung knockout. Kumbaga dapat convincing kung hindi convincing iyan, sad to say yung hometown bet… that is the reality,” Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino reminded the boxers.
All eyes meanwhile are on Elaiza Yulo and Alleah Finnegan as they lead the women’s gymnastic team in the qualifying round at the Thammasat University Rangsit Campus.
Likewise, Miguel Besana and John Ivan Cruz will be tasked to step up in the absence of Paris double-gold winner Caloy Yulo in the men’s team.
Also seeing action are the PH paddlers in the men’s canoe single 500m, women’s canoe double 500m and kayak single slalom preliminaries in the morning session and the finals in the afternoon should they advance.
John Derrick Farr and Simon Peter Servillion are in the seeding run for the men’s mountain bike downhill individual as of press time, with the Final set also on Wednesday morning.
Lea Denise Belgira and Naomi Gardoce are also racing for the women’s side.
Other events, opening their competitions are jiu-jitsu duo classic, artistic swimming, 3×3 basketball, indoor volleyball, petanque, taekwondo, tennis and woodball.
