By REYNALD MAGALLON
BANGKOK, Thailand – The stage is set, securities are in place. The flags of the 11 participating countries are already waving proudly inside the Rajamangala National Stadium a day before the formal start of the Games here.
Thailand is all set for the opening ceremony of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games on Tuesday, Dec. 9 so is the Philippine team for its bid to put together its best performance in the regional meet.
“Mabigat yung Top 1. Yung host gumagawa ng paraan iyan. Matapatan lang natin yung dati. 58 golds tayo dati, malampasan lang natin iyon. Okay na, it’s a big accomplishment. Kung umabot tayo ng 60 okay na, we beat our gold record,” said Philippine Olympic committee president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino.
The Philippine team, which sends its biggest delegation to the Games with the 1,600-strong athletes, coaches and staff, will be represented by the 200 athletes and officials at the opening parade led by tennis princess Alex Eala and Alas men’s captain Bryan Bagunas as flag bearers.
They will join other delegations from host Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, Timor Leste defending champion Vietnam and host Thailand in the ceremony that is expected to be graced by Thailand current king Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Tolentino clarified that the delegation during the parade was supposed to be composed purely of athletes but had to tap officials after the 61-man athletics team won’t be making it to the ceremony due to the security lockdown for the attendance of the king.
PH teams in polo, football, baseball, hockey 5s and badminton have already begun their campaigns days before the formal opening.
The PH batters were off to a rousing start to the country’s campaign with a 14-0 win over Indonesia before following it up with a 17-3 win against Singapore. The Philippine team is going for a sweep of Group A as it is taking on Malaysia as of press time at the Queen Sirikit Sports Center Baseball Stadium.
Also enjoying early success is the PH polo team which advanced to the 2-4 goals semifinals. It is gunning for a final spot and an assured silver against host team Thailand at presstime.
It is actually a shot for redemption for the Filipinos as they dropped a 2.5-4 result against the Thais after opening the tournament with a rousing 5.5-3 win over Indonesia.
Likewise, the PH men’s football team is gunning for a 2-0 start when it clashes against Indonesia at the 700th Anniversary Chiangmai Stadium at presstime. The PH booters opened the tournament with a 2-0 victory against Myanmar.
On the distaff side, the Filipinas dropped a heartbreaking 1-2 loss to the Burmese but they have a chance to bounce back against Vietnam at the Chonburi Stadium.
Suffering an early boot, however, were the PH badminton teams.
The women’s team of Mikaela Joy de Guzman, Ysabel Aurora, Christel Fuentespina, Andrea Hernandez, Mary Untal, Eleanor Inlayo and Jeya Pinlac suffered a 3-0 loss to Singapore in the quarterfinals while the men’s side Jewel Albo, Solomon Padiz, Julius Villabrille, Clarence Villaflor,Christian Bernardo, Alvin Morada andJamal Rahmat Pandi also got swept by Malaysia, 0-3.
