BATTLEFIELD: NAGOYA

The best and brightest Filipino athletes will be at the forefront when the 464-strong national delegation marches to the 20th Asian Games that will open on 19 September at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya.

In the official list of delegates released by the Philippine Olympic Committee, the names of two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo of gymnastics, reigning Asian record holder Ernest John Obiena of athletics, and Olympic medalists Carlo Paalam of boxing, Kayla Sanchez of swimming stood out, raising the hopes of the Filipinos for an impressive finish in this prestigious continental showpiece.

The Filipinos have sweet memories of competing in Japan. In fact, the last time a major event was held on Japanese soil was in 2021 when Hidilyn Diaz plucked the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal.

Prior to that, the country competed in the Hiroshima Asian Games in 1994, where it sent its biggest delegation of 524 athletes that took home three gold, two silver and eight bronze medals.

Chief of mission Ricky Lim as well as deputy chiefs of mission Erika Dy and Jarryd Bello are already in Nagoya to attend the delegation registration meeting last Friday while making sure that everything will be in place when reigning champion Gilas Pilipinas, bannered by Robert Bolick, fires up the Filipinos campaign against Bahrain on Friday.

Hopes are high on Yulo, who is strongly being considered to serve as flag bearer not just because of his favorable schedule but also because of the immense pride and joy he brought to the country when he secured a pair of gold medals in the Paris Olympics two years ago.

After coming up empty-handed in his Asian Games debut in Jakarta in 2018, Yulo is determined to finally capture one of the few gold medals missing from his decorated collection.

“I’m really excited, and hopefully, I will be able to bring home the gold medal not just for us but for the Philippines,” said Yulo, whose trophy cabinet already includes three world championship gold medals and 12 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships titles.

The boxing team, meanwhile, will lean heavily on the experience of its Olympians despite limited competition exposure since the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines president Marcus Manalo said the national team will have to maximize its remaining training camps before heading to Japan.

“I believe in our boxers. The only concern is that our Olympians have had very limited competition experience since the Paris Olympics,” said Manalo, who will parade the Olympic quartet of Paalam, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas as well as Paul Bascon, Marjon Piñar, and Riza Pasuit.

“They really have to work hard in the training camps leading up to Japan.”

Ramirez will face a different challenge as she drops to the -52-kilogram division after her usual -57kg category was not included in the Asian Games program.

The Asian champion, however, said the weight adjustment has not affected her effectiveness on the tatami.

“Based on the local trials at 52kg, I felt okay and recovered well. The hardest part was maintaining the weight,” Ramirez said.

“My natural weight is heavier, so I had to make adjustments. As long as I felt good at that weight, everything was okay.”

Gilas Pilipinas will also head to Nagoya looking to retain the gold medal it won in Hangzhou, although its preparations have raised some concerns after it fielded a different lineup from the team that competed in the previous window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

Despite suffering two exhibition losses to South Korea, head coach Tim Cone believes the games provided valuable lessons for the squad.

“This is like a dress rehearsal for us. It gives the guys an opportunity to see what the coaching staff is about in terms of prepping, how to prep, how much video to watch, what the practices are like. That’s what we’re going to use in these two Korean games,” Cone said.