WFP prepares for world, Asian hostings

The country is set to host two major wushu events in back-to-back fashion – the World Wushu Championships and the Asian Wushu Championships in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

Officials of the Wushu Federation of the Philippines (WFP) led by its president Freddie Jalasco and secretary general Julian Camacho made the announcement on Tuesday in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the conference hall of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

World Wushu Championships silver medal winner Carlos Baylon Jr. was with Jalasco and Camacho in the weekly session presented by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, Smart/PLDT, and the country’s 24/7 sports app ArenaPlus.

Camacho bared that since the country is hosting the world meet in 2027, the Wushu Federation of Asia suggested for the Philippines to stage the Asian counterpart of the tournament as well a year after.

“The Wushu Federation of Asia reached out to me, saying that since you’re hosting the 2027 World Championships, can you also host the Asian Championships next year? So, this is going to be back-to-back hosting for us,” Camacho said.

“Since the equipment is already there like taolu carpet, sanda ring, scoring machine, we can make use of that with only a few months apart of the of two hostings.”

But focus will be on the World Championship first, according to Jalasco, as the Philippines is eyeing a P500-million budget to mount the event featuring 80 countries and more than 2,000 participants competing in both the taolu and sanda events.

The federation is in talks with the SMX Mall of Asia as venue of the event.

“We’re going to start our mobilization by early next year,” Jalasco said.

“So, we have to prepare everything to ensure the success of this very big event.”

The Philippines was actually scheduled to host the event in 2029 yet as Macau is the one assigned for the 2027 staging.

But Camacho opted to talk to Macau and switch the hosting assignments instead.

“I told them that I’m already 82 years old and I might not make it to 2029,” a smiling Camacho said.

“We’re friends so they agreed to switch hosting.”

As for someone who’s expected to perform right before his countrymen, Baylon said he’s ready to take on the challenge and deliver the way he did in the recent World Championships and the World Games earlier, where he won a bronze medal.

“We will work hard in training for us to win the gold,” said Baylon, who competes in the men’s sanda 56 kg. event. “There’s pressure for us, athletes, because we’re the hosts. We have to show other countries that we’re also strong.”