MANILA, 20 September — Dr. Raul Canlas, medical chief of the Philippine delegation to the Asian Games, said that the Philippine delegation is fit and well for the coming Asian Games after examining 90 percent of the 218 athletes bound for Busan, South Korea.
Aside from some athletes who still need "counseling," practically everybody bound for Busan has been given a clean bill of health — physically and psychologically.
Still, Canlas said there are athletes who are "not as focused in competing" like the rest of the delegation. He advised them to undergo sessions with sports psychologists.
"There won’t be any psychologist in Busan, so they have to finish the counseling sessions here before flying to Busan," said Canlas. "But it is going to be just a routine session to make sure they are all psyched up for competition."
The athletes were tested on doping (for performance-enhancing substances as well as narcotics like marijuana and shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride), nutrition, muscular, chest, ECG, blood levels and dentures.
He noted that the Philippines has a "clean slate" in terms of doping tests in international competitions, which he attributed to "our stringent doping exams here."
The PCSM also conducted several lectures to the all-pro basketball squad as well as the body-building team and updated them of the kinds of drugs which are prohibited in international competitions.
Canlas, who will be leading an 11-man team to Busan, said the entire wushu squad and several equestrians, who are still wrapping up tune-up competitions, are yet to undergo tests before the end of the week.
No problem with visas: POC
The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will see to it that everybody who deserves to be in the Asian Games will be duly accredited. Boying Santos, POC project director in-charge of accreditation, made the assurance, saying his group was coordinating with the Busan Asian Games Organizing Committee (BAGOC) on the facilitation of the remaining accreditation papers of Philippine delegation members to the Asian Games.
"Bagoc told us that they encountered problems with regards to photo mix-ups and non-appearance of names owing to the huge number of people seeking accreditation," said Santos. "They’ve corrected these mistakes, however, and in fact less than 20 Filipino participants still lack Asian Games ID which is equivalent to a visa."
But "when worse comes to worst", Santos said the POC was coordinating with the Korean embassy regarding the application for visas of the Filipino participants in Manila and then getting their accreditation in Busan.
The Philippine delegation to the quadrennial meet slated Sept. 29-Oct. 14 will be composed of 218 athletes, 109 officials, support personnel, cheerleaders and media members.
At the latest count, 6,000 reporters have applied for accreditation to the meet, which is expected to draw more than 11,000 participants from 43 countries.
Top boxers in Pacquiao undercard
Crack fighters will be featured as undercards in the Manny Pacquiao show on October 26 in Davao City.
North Cotabato Gov. Manny Pinol is eyeing the likes of Bobby Pacquiao, younger brother of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-bantam champion, to lead the cast of undercard fighters in the event that will be held at the 6,000-seat Rizal Memorial College Gymnasium.
Pinol had originally penciled the Davao Agricultural College grounds as venue of Pacquiao’s third and mandatory defense, but the possibility of rains might ruin the show. Pacquiao will fight Thai Fabbrakob Rakkiatgym.
Bobby, the reigning Philippine super-feather titlist, will likely tangle with a tough Korean, while another rising star, unbeaten light-weight Dindo Castanares of Cebu, is being planned to collide with former World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight champion Goyo Vargas of Mexico. Daniel Lerio, the Sydney Olympian now fighting under Pinol’s wings, will appear in a six-rounder.
Among all the undercard matchups, the Castanares vs. Vargas duel will be the most exciting, considering the Mexican is not yet over-the-hill and packs a 41-7-1 win-loss-draw slate with 29 knockouts.
Castanares, who flattened Fernando Montilla last week, holds a 10-0 card with seven knockouts.
A professional since 1988, Vargas has lost only once in his last eight fights and is coming off a seventh-round knockout win over Celso Delgado in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, on March 15.
Vargas, 31, has fought some of the best fighters in the feather and super-feather categories, including Americans Floyd Mayweather, Kevin Kelley and Tracy Harris Patterson, Ugandan Ben Tackie, Irish Paul Hodkinson and Puerto Rican John-John Molina.
Noted for his granite chin, Vargas went the distance with Mayweather in a failed bid to wrest the WBC 130-lb title in March 2000 in Las Vegas. Pinol said he is currently negotiating for the airing of Pacquiao’s fight and select undercard bouts to some US cities and Mexico.
Pacquiao is training at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach in Hollywood, California. He will return to the country two weeks before the fight.
Pinoy softball team captures Asian title
Cagayan de Oro City’s pitching pride Mark Rae Ramirez silenced Chinese-Taipei with a three-hit job in the Philippines’ decisive 6-1 victory for the Asian Men’s Junior Softball Championship title at the University of Malaya field in Kuala Lumpur.
The 18-year-old graduate of the Bukidnon National High School, aside from imposing his presence on the mound, also went two-for-three at the box in an all-around performance complementing the Blu Boys’ 13-hit attack that retained for the country its only remaining stronghold in an Asian level of team competition.
Third baseman Roswald Palacol connected thrice in his four trips to the box driving in two of the Blu Boys’ total run production that more than made up for their 2-8 loss to the Taiwanese in the four-team elimination round.
The left-handed Ramirez himself had one RBI matched by centerfielder Jeffrey Baltazar, second baseman Alvin Peralta and first baseman Joey Jimenez as the five-man offensive core proved too much for the Taiwanese to handle.
Coach Reynaldo "Baby" Manzanares’ Blu Boys, learning their lesson from the only stain that marked their 7-1 win-loss slate, decided the issue right at the upper half of the first inning where they scored three runs on four hits highlighted by a run-scoring singles by Ramirez, leftfielder Reynante Viazon and Palacol.
Shortstop Gilbert Alvarez led-off that pivotal period with a base hit off losing hurler Tan H. H.’s first pitch. The 19-year-old pride of Zamboanga City advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by rightfielder Rommel Cambronero from where he cruised across the plate on another one-bagger by Ramirez.
Jao is virtual champion
Jolet Jao’s record-breaking success in this year’s Shell Advance National Super Bike Championship is already a foregone conclusion. The only thing that keeps motorsports fans guessing right now is how big will be the winning margin.
A mainstay of Shell Advance-Rolex Engineering Racing Team, Jao tries to pull farther away from his closest rivals — and closer to his sixth title in seven years — when the premier motorbike competition resumes at the Batangas Racing Circuit in Rosa-rio, Batangas this weekend.
The multi-awarded campaigner from Candaba, Pampanga, who holds the distinction as the only local rider to win the overall titles in moto-cross, scooter and road racing, has en eight-leg aggregate of 191 points based on the 25-2016-13-11 scoring system by the National Motorcycle Sports and Safety Association (NAMSSA).
Jao bagged the overall titles in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001
His main rival, Toti Alberto, is too far behind in the overall standings to pose a threat with only 141 points.
Young RP jins bag four golds
The Philippine taekwondo jins, composed mostly of young members of the developmental pool, kicked their way to runner-up overall honors with four golds, four silvers and two bronzes in the recent Asean Taekwondo Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Josephine Strachan, Jeferthom Go, Jose Emmanuel Enriquez and Ann Margaret Boyle plucked gold medals in their respective divisions to lead the other medal winners. The Philippines finished second behind overall titlist Vietnam, which won six golds.
Go, the only Team A member in the lineup, trailed, 0-2, in the first round against his Vietnamese foe before rallying for a 6-5 victory in the men’s featherweight. Strachan and Boyle defeated Malaysians to rule the women’s lightweight and heavyweight category, respectively.
But the most spectacular final match belonged to Bacolod-native Enriquez, who hit a three-pointer in the final 10 seconds of the match to score a 5-4 win over a Vietnamese in the men’s finweight.
