MANILA, 13 September — So far, this is the boldest prediction on the Philippines’ gold medal chances in the Busan Asian Games: 10 glittering golds.
Tom Carrasco, chief of mission of the Philippine team to the Asian Games next month, said Filipino athletes could win as many as 10 gold medals in the quadrennial regional event.
In what could well be the boldest prediction yet made by a high-ranking sports official on the country’s gold medal chances, Carrasco said Filipino athletes would deliver goods in billiards, bowling and boxing.
“I believe 50 percent or more of my prediction would come from these sports,” said Carrasco, who is also expecting taekwondo and wushu to win gold medals for the country which is sending a strong 327-man RP delegation to Busan.
Surprises could come from golf and karatedo, as well as steeplechase specialist Eduardo Buenavista, according to Carrasco.
Carrasco’s medal prediction surpassed that made by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Eric Buhain, who had earlier given away the numbers that could be viewed as an unofficial gold medal prediction in Busan: a minimum of four and a maximum of seven. The former national swimmer said the mission ahead is going to be tough, but he is looking closely at four to seven possible gold medals as predicted by the athletes themselves against a field that features the best in Asia.
Buhain said he is also expecting to see some surprises on some events by athletes properly equipped and extensively trained for the regional games which could improve the one-gold medal output of the country four years ago.
“Certainly, we will try to improve from 1998. The athletes themselves are upbeat and they are looking at those numbers. We hope to achieve what the athletes believe could be done — and it can be done,” said Buhain.
Carrasco said that the Filipinos’ performance in Busan this September would reflect the kind of showing they’ll have in future international competitions including the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
“Let’s consider Busan as stepping stone for future international meets. We want to look beyond that,’’ explained Carrasco, also part of the joint POC-Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Asiad Task Force.
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Celso Dayrit has refused to comment on Team Philippines’ chances.
Dayrit said the Asiad will be part of a long-term training program that hopefully would climax with a sensational victory in the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.
In the 1998 Bangkok Asiad, the Philippines won just one gold, courtesy of the 9-ball pair of Romeo Villanueva and Gandy Valle, aside from two silver and eight bronze medals.
In 1994 Hiroshima Games, the country bagged three gold, seven silver and 12 bronze medals.
Carrasco said he arrived at the number after a painstaking scrutiny of Team Philippines’ preparations which he personally oversees.
He said, the country is assured of at least two gold medals in billiards owing to the presence of former world champion Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante.
The eight members of the boxing team, which has seen action in numerous European, Cuban and Asian tournaments, are also capable of winning a gold each, ditto for the 12-member bowling team bannered by Paeng Nepomuceno, Carrasco added.
He also expects world championship medalists and Sydney Olympians Roberto Cruz and Donald David Geisler III to deliver in taekwondo and bemedalled Mark Rosales and Bobby Co in wushu.
Back-to-back RP Open winner Angelo Que and multi-titled Juvic Pagunsan spearhead the golf team, while the karatedo team goes to Busan fresh from a European swing where it won three gold medals.
Buenavista is set to see action in the steeplechase, 5,000-m and 10,000-m.
Carrasco said Buenavista’s chances depend mainly on who the opposition would be in each event.
Carrasco leads a 22-man advance party leaving for Busan tomorrow while the initial batch of athletes from archery, rowing, sailing and basketball leave on Sept. 23. The main bulk departs for Busan on Sept. 26.
Ernie Fajardo, president of the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines, (BSCP), expressed confidence that the national team will be getting a lion’s share of the 10 gold medals to be disputed in the sport seen as one of the country’s potential source of medals.
BSCP officials expressed confidence the nine-man team spearheaded by Bustamante and Reyes, a former world champion, is capable of raking in 3-4 gold medals.
The Philippine team will gun for a total of six gold medals — three each in billiards and snooker — in Busan.
Bustamante will be paired with Antonio “Nikoy” Lining, gold medalist in the 9-ball of the 2001 Southeast Asian Games, in the 9-ball doubles, taking the slot originally reserved for Warren Kiamco who will see action in the 9-ball singles. Lining, who topped the series of local 9-ball eliminations, will also vie in the singles event.
Reyes, the 1999 world 9-ball champion, will compete in the 8-ball singles. This gives the Philippines a clear shot at the gold in all three pool events rather than have Bustamante and Reyes team up in 9-ball and leave a big hole in the 8-ball event.
Bustamante was named Player of the Year by the US magazine Billiards Digest in 1998 and earned the same honor from the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) a year later.
Among his major titles were the Japan Open, where he routed Ralf Souquet, 9-0, in the finals, the IBC World Tour in Munich, Germany, the 2002 Motolite World 9-ball Challenge at the Araneta Coliseum where he whipped American Corey Deuel, 13-8, in the finals, the World Pool Masters in Essex (UK) where he nipped Strickland, 7-6, in the finals, and the 1998 Tulsa 9-ball Open in Oklahoma.
A member of the Puyat Sports team, Bustamante also finished second in the World Pool League in Warsaw, Poland, and third in the world pool championship in Cardiff in 1999. The four members of the billiards and snooker team, aside from Bustamante and Reyes, have been training for the last four years and Bustamante himself believes it would be heartless to drop a member to make room for him.
Also vying for the 8-ball gold is Lee Van Corteza. Tapped to represent the country in the snooker events were Marlon Manalo, James Al Ortega and Benjamin Guevarra.
Coach Ramon Ancaja expressed confidence the cue masters will surpass their one-gold output in the 1998 Asiad in Bangkok.
Eduardo Buenavista and Lerma Bulauitan will stand at the forefront of the Philippines’ campaign in athletics.
They will lead 11 other crack Filipino tracksters — better known as “GTK’s Army — in a very tough mission in Busan — that is, to end a long medal drought for the Philippines in athletics.
Buenavista is entered in the 10,000m and 5,000m run — while Bulauitan tries to duplicate, if not surpass, her recent silver-medal finish in the Asian Championships in Sri Lanka.
Buenavista is skipping his favorite event, the 3,000m steeplechase, to boost his medal chances in the 10,000m and the 5,000m runs
The national coaching staff, in consultation with Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association president Go Teng Kok, said it was a tactical decision to remove Buenavista from his pet event after evaluating his physical condition and clocking in his recent 3,000m steeplechase stint in Sri Lanka.
“This is basically a coaching strategy. Unlike in the steeplechase, Buenavista need not jump in the 10,000m and the 5,000m, so there’ll be less pressure on his knees,” said Go, adding that the track and field schedule would also make it hard for Bueanavista to run in all three events.
Although the 4-foot-11 Buenavista, who earned the moniker “Vertek” after suffering an injury while doing the vertical flip, won the strength-sapping 3,000m steeplechase in the Asian Grand Prix Manila leg in May, the coaching staff agreed that he could have a hard time against the two Qataris entered in Busan.
The two finished 1-2 in the recent Sri Lanka Asian Athletic Association Championships where Buenavista had a close view of the winning Qataris.
Still recuperating from a knee injury, Buenavista only competed in the 5,000m run in Colombo where he landed sixth.
Others in the 13-member lineup are John Lozada (800m), Asian Championships bronze winner Marestella Torres (long jump), Ernie Candelario (400m), Allan Ballester, Roy Vence and Cristabel Martes (marathon), Joebert Delicano (long jump), Sean Guevarra (high jump) and 4x400 runners Jimar Aing, Rodrigo Tanuan and Ronnie Marfil.
The last time the Philippines brought home a medal in the Asian Games was in 1994 in Hiroshima when the now retired Elma Muros-Posadas won a bronze in the long jump.
In 1994, only four were picked to compete in athletics while Muros-Posadas was the lone bet in 1998 but now, based on the standards set by the POC, 13 easily qualified for the RP Team.
Bulauitan is considered as the country’s new queen on the track today.
The 27-year-old Bulauitan, who hails from Penablanca, Cagayan, reaffirmed her lofty billing as the heir-apparent to the throne of Muros-Posadas after bagging the silver medal in women’s long jump in the Asian Championships in Sri Lanka.
