AGATHA Wong and the national wushu team seek to bank on their homecourt advantage.

Members of the Philippine wushu team to the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games are hoping that they could familiarize themselves with the actual competition venue way ahead of other competitors.

Two-time SEA Games gold medalist Daniel Parantac said familiarity with the venue could spell the difference in their bid to deliver the gold.

“If we can train at the actual venue at least two weeks before the competition, it will be good for us. Actually, the earlier, the better,” he said during Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Amelie Hotel in Manila.

Parantac, who won gold medals in taolu during the 2013 and 2015 SEA Games then finished fourth in 2017, added that as host, Filipino wushu officials and athletes must seize the opportunity.

“If we train in the venue two or three days before the competition, that’s not enough. We need to get used to the surface,” said Parantac during the weekly forum.

Wushu in the upcoming SEA Games will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) from 1 to 3 December. The Philippines will host the biennial event from 30 November to 11 December.

The Philippines will field 12 athletes in wushu, which offers 16 gold medals in sanda and taolu events.

To gear up for the competition, they underwent four months of training in China.

They include Jessie Aligaga, Arnel Mandal, Carlos Baylon Jr., Francisco Solis, Clemente Tabugara Jr., Divine Wally and Jenifer Kilapio in sanda; and Thornton Sayan, Jones Inso and Johnzenth Gajo in taolu, aside from Parantac and Agatha Wong, the reigning champion in taolu.