Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games: Qualifying tournaments set on May 29

QUALIFYING tournament for athletes in five sports will be held starting May 29, to identify the athletes that will join Team Philippines in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games which will be held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, from September 17 to 27.

Qualifying tournaments include kickboxing, wrestling, kurash, sambo and traditional wrestling.

Sportsman and Representative Monsour Del Rosario, the Philippine delegation’s Chef de Mission, in a recent sports forum, said the AIMAG will serve as a “testing ground” for local athletes aspiring in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Rio Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz will banner the local participation in the Games, which is described as the second largest Asian multisport event after the Asian Games.

Meanwhile, the government through the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has initially earmarked P19.5 million for the air fare of the Philippine delegation, numbering to about 150.

The AIMAG, organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), is a Pancontinental multisport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The indoor games will be held for the first in Central Asian country.

Sports included for the Asian Indoor games are Chess, Futsal, Tennis, Muay Thai, Sambo, Kurash, Jiu Jitsu, Bowling, Cycling (track), Swimming, Indoor Athletics, Weightlifting (Powerlifting), Basketball, Taekwondo (WTF), Dance Sport, Kickboxing, Belt Wrestling, Wrestling (Greco Roman), Cue Sport (Billiards and Snooker).

Aside from the forty-five National Olympic Committees (NOC) of OCA, 17 member of Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOCs) are participating in the Games.

These Oceania countries are Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

Seven associate members of ONOC will also compete. They are New Caledonia, Tokelau, Niue, Norfolk Island, Tahiti, Wallis and Futuna and Northern Marianas. Primo Agatep/PNA