THE 69-strong Philippine differently abled team will have tempered expectations and hopeful hearts as it wades into battle at the 5th Asian Para Games slated Oct. 18 to 24 in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan.
From a pair of strong 10-gold medal finishes the last two editions of the quadrennial event, the Filipinos have calibrated their target to around four to five golds, no thanks to the delisting of chess by the organizers from the games’ calendar.
Chess, of course, produced five mints in the 2018 Jakarta edition where the Nationals finished 11th overall with a 10-gold, eight-silver and 11-bronze haul and eight in the 2023 Hangzhou staging where they wound up ninth with a 10-4-5 harvest.
“Our campaign will be affected because of the pulling out of chess in the Asian Para Games because most of our golds came in Hangzhou,” said Philippine Chef de Mission Francis Diaz right after Wednesday’s simple send off for the team at the PhilSports Complex in Pasig.
“Having said that, however, we’re looking at around four to five very bright potential to take home probable gold medals,” he added.
Mr. Diaz, who is also National Academy of Sports executive director, said swimming, athletics and taekwondo’s Allain Ganapin could strike gold if the stars align.
The swimmers to watch are veteran Ernie Gawilan and fast-rising Angel Otom while Alyana Nuñez, who jumped from goal ball to athletics where she claimed golds in javelin and shot put in Nakhon Ratchasima, should be the Philippines’ best chance at a gold in the sport.
“So far these are our top probably gold medal winners, who are all gold medalists in the ASEAN Para Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand in January this year,” he said. “The others, it’s a tall order but everyone is much prepared.”
The team, which is financed by the Philippine Sports Commission and backed by official outfitter Adidas, will start flying to batches with the first ones leaving as early as this weekend. — Joey Villar
