POC fighting for dropped sports

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) is lobbying hard, hoping that organizers will retain the sports dropped from the official program of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games that will be held in Thailand next year.

POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino yesterday said they are leaving no stone unturned in lobbying for the retention of 12 sports, including dancesports, jiu-jitsu, karate, weightlifting, where the Filipinos have golden chances of winning.

He said they will have a SEA Games Federation Council meeting on 25 October and he is hoping that the organizers will re-consider their position of dropping the 12 sports that are crucial to the country’s campaign in the prestigious biennial meet.

“We are fighting for all the 12 sports, including dancesports and chess. The meeting will be on 25 October,” Tolentino said.

“So, between now and 25 October will be the push to convince the organizers which sports will be included because by then, the results will already be presented.”

Last June, the SEA Games organizers announced that they will be reducing the number of sports in the meet that is set in the Thai cities of Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla from 9 to 20 December 2025.

Tipped to be affected are star athletes Kaila Napolis, Annie Ramirez and Marc Lim of jiu-jitsu; Agatha Wong of wushu; Jamie Lim and Sakura Alforte of karate; and Erleen Ando and Vanessa Sarno of weightlifting, who all delivered gold medals in the previous edition of the Games in Cambodia last year.

In Cambodia, the Filipinos posted a total of 58 gold, 86 silver and 116 bronze medals to underscore a very successful participation at fifth place.

They followed it up with another overwhelming performance of four gold medals in the Asian Games before a historic double-gold medal finish in the Paris Olympics bannered by gymnast Carlos Yulo.