![Opening Ceremony of the Philippine Asian Games](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2023/09/000_33WB78Q-620x413.jpg)
Members of the Philippine delegation participate in the athletes’ parade during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang province on September 23, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S.KODIKARA / AFP)
In recent months, Filipino athletes have ramped up their training, repeating every task to hone their skills to the point of monotony.
They will need a boost in the coming weeks when full-scale competitions kick off on Sunday at the 19th Asian Games here in Hangzhou, China.
A few questions will be answered: How will Kayla Noelle Sanchez, an Olympic medalist who was part of the vaunted Team Canada, fare spearheading a program eager to end nearly four gold-deprived decades?
“I would say my preparation is good. I will obviously do my best to finish in the highest place for Team Philippines,” said Sanchez, who helped Canada win silver in the 4×100-meter free and bronze in the 4×100-meter individual medley at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. to swim to the Philippines.
She will lead a 4×100 meters team at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Aquatics Arena on Sunday.
Olympic silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam begin their respective round of 32 bids in the 57 kilogram (kg) weight class in boxing, which serves as a continental qualifier for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
“The challenge here will be much bigger because I was forced to move up to a heavier weight class,” Paalam said in Filipino after the flyweight division, where the 25-year-old won silver in Tokyo, was dropped from the Paris schedule.
“I haven’t met my possible opponents in this weight category yet, but I will be ready,” Paalam added.
Tokyo Olympians Irish Magno (54kg), Aira Villegas (50kg) and Mark Ashley Fajardo (63.5kg) will also try to book tickets to Paris.
Male boxers who advance to the finals will receive free Olympic berths, while female boxers who advance to the semi-finals will also receive spots at the Summer Games.
Medal bids begin
Agatha Wong will also take center stage in the women’s taijiquan and taijijian all-round in wushu, while taekwondo poomsae performers Jocel Lyn Ninobla (women’s individual) and Patrick King Perez (men’s individual) will also get their medal bids underway.
Judoka Shugen Nakano (men’s -66kg), fencers Sammuel Tranquilan (men’s individual foil) and Ivy Claire Dinoy (women’s individual epee) will cross swords with their respective foes in an attempt to make deep inroads into the competition, even as Amparo Acuna from shooting tries her luck in the women’s 10 meter air rifle.
To combine forces
Sanchez earned her medals in Tokyo by swimming in the heats for Canada and getting her former team to the finals. She reprized her role for the North American powerhouse at the world championships before swapping her Canadian passport for a Philippine one to represent her parents’ homeland.
The 22-year-old Sanchez will join forces in the relay with two-time Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi, Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Tiea Isabella Salvino and Miranda Renner, who recently injured her shoulder.
Minus two-time world champion Carlos Edriel Yulo, the men’s gymnastics team will rely on Juancho Miguel Besana, Justine Ace De Leon, Jhon Romeo Santillan and Jan Gwynn Timbang in qualifying for the men’s team.
Yulo, a strong competitor on vault, parallel bars, floor exercise and all-around, has opted to instead travel to Antwerp, Belgium for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships starting September 30, seeking outright qualification for the Olympic To play.
Skateboarder Jericho Francisco will kick-start his bid in the men’s park, while Jorrel Aristorenas will take on Bahrain’s Rashed Khaled Alrowaihi in the opening round of the EA Sports FC Online event.
Chess players Mark Paragua, Paulo Bersamina, Janelle Mae Frayna and Marie Antoinette San Diego will also start their campaign in individual play.
World No. 2 and Asian champion EJ Obiena looks to be another gold medal hope after a silver performance at the recent World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, while skateboarder Margielyn Didal looks to retain the women’s street title she won in 2018 in Indonesia.
The two athletes served as flag bearers at Saturday’s glamorous opening ceremony at the Hangzhou Olympic Stadium, which featured a lavish and high-tech show.