Thailand, here we come

A powerhouse cast composed of Olympians and World Cup veterans will be at the helm when Team Philippines leaves for Thailand next week to see action in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

Olympians Ernest John Obiena and Eric Cray of athletics; Hidilyn Diaz of weightlifting; Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial and Hergie Bacyadan of boxing; and Kayla Sanchez of swimming as well as the amazing Alex Eala of lawn tennis and Gilas Pilipinas of men’s basketball will headline the Filipinos in the prestigious biennial meet set from 9 to 20 December in Thai cities of Bangkok and Chonburi.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said they will be deploying a 1,600-plus strong and fighting team that is capable of surpassing their previous finish of 58 gold, 85 silver, and 117 bronze medals when the regional tourney was held in Phnom Penh in 2023.

“This is the biggest delegation of SEA Games so far: 1,600 plus, including officials…Some countries might have bigger delegations but we have a lot of surprises,” Tolentino said.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio agrees, stressing that the squad can sustain the momentum brought by the country’s historic finishes in major events recently like the previous SEA Games, Asian Games and, more importantly, the Paris Olympics last year, where gymnast Carlos Yulo emerged with two gold medals, the first multiple gold medals by a Filipino athlete in the Summer Games.

“If you ask me, the exposure, that’s our investment so that they can compete better when it comes to the Asian Games, when it comes to the Olympics,” Gregorio said.

“As I have said, all our athletes are taken care of,” he added.

There will be no Yulo this time, but Team Philippines will not run out of star power.

Obiena, for instance, will be marching into the SEA Games with a chip on his shoulders as he aims to validate his claim as Asia’s best pole vaulter.

Although his ranking in World Athletics tumbled from No. 2 to No. 11 due to poor performances and non-participation in major meets due to injuries, he is still determined to come up with a vault that will crush the Southeast Asian record of 5.65 meters that he set in the previous edition of the meet in 2023.

Same goes for Cray, the 37-year-old hurdler who aims to make a swan song with a shiny gold medal hanging around his neck. In fact, he already won eight gold medals since starting to campaign for Team Philippines 12 years ago and there’s no better way to close his career with another title in the men’s 400-meter hurdles.

Making a strong finish is also the motivation of the 34-year-old Diaz. The country’s first ever Olympic gold medalist is already walking into her final SEA Games stint and winning another gold medal will turn her into an inspiration for a lot of young athletes who are dreaming of bringing pride and glory to the country..

“It’s to inspire our young athletes and also women who are the same age as me, because people keep saying that I should stop already,” Diaz said in a previous interview.

“Gender or age don’t matter in sports. You can excel if you want to.”

Hopes are also high on the boxing team, which is a consistent medal producer for Team Philippines.

After flirting with the idea of hanging their gloves to give way for a new breed of athletes, Olympic veterans Petecio, Marcial and Bacyadan had a change of heart and declared the readiness to give the SEA Games one more try.

Marcial, in fact, was already supposed to see action in the professional ranks but decided to compete in the men’s 80-kilogram category after talking to Tolentino and Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines secretary general Marcus Manalo.

“Of course there’s pressure, especially when everybody is expecting you to win the gold medal,” said Marcial, who will be shooting for his fifth SEA Games gold medals, something that he failed to do in Cambodia after training his sights on professional glory.

“But this is amateur. We have to come up with a different kind of preparation. Here, it’s more fast-paced with only three rounds to win.”

Sanchez, a former Olympic medalist, is also expected to make heads turn as she will make her SEA Games debut since changing citizenship from Canada to Philippines in 2023. During the national trials, she delivered a preview of what to expect when she beat the SEA Games qualifying mark of one minute and 5.17 seconds to bag a spot in the women’s 100-meter backstroke.

All eyes, however, will be on Eala and Gilas Pilipinas.

Eala has yet to win a SEA Games gold medal, but things have already changed as she scored a breakthrough following a semifinal run in the Miami Open — a Women’s Tennis Association 150 event — last March that boosted her world ranking all the way to No. 50.

Her journey to a SEA Games gold, however, will not be easy as prominent WTA campaigner Janice Tjen of Indonesia is standing in her way.