‘We were awarded to host the 2027 World Wushu Championships so we really have to work hard in the next three to four years.’
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PSA Wushu chief Julian Camacho (center) is looking forward to the country’s hosting of the 2027 world championships.
The Wushu Federation of the Philippines will need P200 million to successfully stage the 2027 World Wushu Championships.
This was the assessment of wushu secretary general Julian Camacho, who just returned to the country following the Philippines' sterling showing in the 2023 worlds held in Dallas, Texas.
Camacho said the Philippines placed seventh overall with a collection of 1-4-1 when he appeared during Tuesday's Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
"We were awarded to host the 2027 World Wushu Championships so we really have to work hard in the next three to four years," Camacho said.
"We would like to form various committees for the hosting, especially in the finance department. We need to have P200 million to host the tournament," he added.
The country's world-renowned hospitality was the prime reason why the 2023 hosting was awarded to the Philippines, according to Camacho.
"There were two other countries that were interested in hosting the tournament but the IWUF secretary general Quiping Zhang said if the Philippines wants to make a bid, he will ask that the other countries withdraw (from the bidding)," Camacho said.
"We had been a host of the Asian Wushu Championships and the Asian Wushu Junior Championships in the past so they're happy to hear we're hosting the event."
"We wanted to do it at the World Trade Center but it has a lot of posts so we decided to look into the SMX Convention Center (at the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay) as a potential venue."
This year has been a bountiful year for Philippine wushu.
The Filipinos took home six medals in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia last May behind a 1-1-4 haul.
In the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last September, the national team took home one silver and three bronze medals while snagging two silvers and two bronzes in the World Combat Games in Saudi Arabia last October.
Camacho is proud that despite some of its top competitors like Agatha Wong balancing academics and training, they can still go toe-to-toe with the best in the world.
"Our opponents are professionals. We can't just tell them (Filipino athletes) to keep practicing because some of them are still studying," Camacho said.
In the recent world championships, almost 500 entries from over 60 countries took part.
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