Tabal hangs in the balance

Olympian’s spot in SEA Games still uncertain

AS an Olympian and a silver medal winner of the past Southeast Asian Games, Cebuana Marathon Queen Mary Joy Tabal is a shoo-in to the national team for the 2017 edition of the biennial games that will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August.

But Tabal’s fate is still in limbo since her credentials don’t guarantee her a slot in the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games. She still has to meet the standards set on her by the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (Patafa) before she can be included in the line-up for the country’s athletics team.

“Her being an Olympian, and as a silver medal winner of the past SEA Games, Joy is a shoo-in for the 2017 SEA Games. The criteria were set by POC themselves. That made Joy qualified to be part of the team, but still we are still wondering why she is not on the Patafa list of athletes who are going to Malaysia,” explained Philippine Sports Commissioner Ramon “El Presidente” Fernandez to Sun.Star Cebu.

Yesterday, the POC-PSC Task Force Sea met in Tagaytay, to determine who will be going to Kuala Lumpur.

“As of now, wala pa gyud ko’y balita from Patafa,” Tabal commented.

Interestingly, Patafa’s list says they are expecting to participate in 46 events in the Track and Field competition – 15 of which were women in the track events that include Marathon. One athlete will be sent for the Women’s Marathon.

According to Fernandez, the list of the athletes will be deliberated by the POC-PSC Task Force and will be finalized by the end of July.

“The final line-up will be deliberated on by both POC and PSC Task Force and finalized by (the) end of July. We will be sending the barest minimum (number of athletes) na. PSC wants the majority as medal hopefuls and a few for their experience. We’ll see where is this going to,” Fernandez added.

Tabal, however, is not happy with the timetable set by the Task Force.

“Di madala ang end of July oy. How about the preparation diay? Especially on my part, my event is marathon. Even (in) the other sports, less than a month preparation is not enough. It won’t work,” Tabal stressed.

POC wanted to send participants to 405 events from 38 sports disciplines.