High hopes on Pinoy para bets
PHILIPPINE Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo (left) and taekwondo coach Gershon Bautista express high hopes on Filipino athletes competing in the 5th Asian Para Games starting 18 October in Nagoya.
Photograph courtesy of PSA
After a record medal harvest in the 20th Asian Games, the Philippines pins its hopes on its 69 athletes to the 5th Asian Para Games scheduled from 18 to 24 October in Nagoya, Japan.
Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo is confident that the delegation will deliver despite the absence of chess, which provided eight of the 10 gold medals for the country in the 2023 edition in Hangzhou.
“They made sure chess is not included because we will surely win. But I pushed for it,” said Barredo during Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Philippine Sports Commission media room.
“But we will make up for that,” said Barredo, who thanked the Philippine Sports Commission for the full support in the campaign.
The Philippines bagged 10 gold, four silver and five bronze medals for ninth place overall in the last Asian Para Games.
“We promise to do better even without chess,” added Barredo, who was joined in the forum by para taekwondo coach Gershon Bautista.
In the recent Asian Games, the Philippines bagged four gold, nine silver and 16 bronze for a total of 29 medals, the most since the country brought home 42 medals (2-15-25) in the 1966 Games in Thailand.