Tabora, Diaz in tight race for flag bearer

Tabora “One is a world champion and the other is an Olympic silver medalist. It’s

Top sports officials are having difficulty picking who between bowler Krizziah Lyn Tabora and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz will carry the flag when the Philippine delegation marches to the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta.

A ranking sport official said Asian Games chief of mission Richard Gomez and his deputies in Manny Cabili and Robert Bachmann have yet to come up with a final decision on who will be the flag bearer in this prestigious athletic conclave set to open at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium on Aug. 18.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said both Tabora and Diaz are on top of the list after emerging victorious in their respective fields for the past couple of years.

Tabora is a perfect choice following a stunning victory in the 53rd Qubica Bowling World Cup (BWC) Championship in Hermosillo, Mexico last year.

She overpowered Sifi Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman of Malaysia in the stepladder finals to clinch her first international singles title to formally become the first Filipino bowler to win the world crown after CJ Suarez in 2003, Lita del Rosario in 1978 and Bong Coo in 1979.

Paeng Nepomuceno still holds the record of a Filipino with the most number of BWC crown after ruling the event in 1976, 1980, 1992 and 1996.

Also giving Gomez and his deputies a tough time is Diaz.

Diaz barged into record books as the only Filipino to win an Olympic silver medal after Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco did it in the men’s light flyweight class of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

After winning the silver medal in the Rio Olympics in 2016, Diaz took a breather before clinching the silver medal in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan last year.

If chosen, this will be Diaz’s third time to carry the flag after doing the honors in the London Olympics in 2012 and the AIMAG last year.

The source, however, didn’t discount the possibility that a non-competitor will be given the priviledge to lead the 281 Filipino athletes in the traditional parade of colors.

After all, it already happened when professional boxer Manny Pacquiao was appointed to carry the flag in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 after becoming the first Asian to win four titles in different weight classes.

“Some quarters raised the possibility of tapping Monsour to be the flag bearer. They see him as a dark horse in this very tough selection process,” said the source, referring to the congressman, former Olympian and taekwondo federation secretary-general who will also serve as the chief of mission in the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games next year.

“Remember that Monsour is the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) Man of the Year for 2017 and will be inducted to the combat sports Hall of Fame. It’s going to be a big boost seeing a distinguished former athlete, sport official and lawmaker leading them in the parade.”

Still, the battle is tipped to boil down to the two world-class athletes of this generation – Tabora and Diaz.

“One is a world champion and the other is an Olympic silver medalist. It’s a tough choice,” said the source.

“That’s why the CDM (Gomez) and his team are having a tough time coming up with the decision. They have to make a decision on or before July 4 so it can be tackled and confirmed in the POC (Philippine Olympic Committee) executive council meeting in the morning and be brought up in the general assembly in the afternoon.”

The flag bearer is considered as the ceremonial leader of a delegation in a major multi-sport tournament.

In the previous SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur last year, Olympian Kirstie Elaine Alora carried the flag while popular spiker Alyssa Valdez was given the honors in the previous edition in Singapore in 2015 to symbolize the return of the Philippines to the women’s volleyball competition after a decade of absence.