Phl Cobra dragon boat team cedes world titles
WUJIN, CHANGZHOU – The Cobra-Philippine Dragon Boat Federation Elite relinquished their twin crowns yesterday as the second IDBF World Cup ended on a sour note for the paddlers whose short period of preparations for the prestigious proved fatal.
The Filipinos, the world record holder in both the 100- meter and 500- meter distances, bombed out in their pet events and wound up sixth, struck with the harsh reality that a one-week training won’t do against better-prepared, vastly-improved rivals.
The No. 6 standing in the 100m and 500m, as well as the 400m relay, was the best the fancied Pinoys could offer in the 12team tourney featuring the Top 11 countries in the world. They placed seventh in two other events, the 1,000m team pursuit and 200m, to finish outside the Top 5 in the overall championship race.
“Lesson learned for us, we need to have at least three months of training for the World Cup, which is the highest level of competition in dragon boat,” said PDBF president Marcia Cristobal.
The paddlers, she said, could only train together for a full week due to scheduling conflict with their military duties. Most of the athletes belong to the Coast Guard or Air Force and had to compete for their respective units in the AFP- PNP- PCG Olympics until Oct. 8 before hooking up with the Cobra-PDBF crew.
From the second-best team in the first edition with two golds and one silver, the Phl paddlers struggled in the cold environs of Wujin Competition Base and yielded the spotlight to two equally strong squads from host China, and the likes of Canada, Australia, and Asean rival Thailand, which snagged two bronze medals.
“This was the first time we were not in the grand finals of any event so I’m disappointed. But I could see our athletes giving their best despite the lack of preparations. And of course the rival teams are strong and fast,” said Cristobal. “On top of that, the cold weather affected their performance.”
The Cobra-PDBF Elite checked in third in semifinal race 1 of the 100m event with 25.177 to bow out of medal contention. They boarded their dragon boats once more for the “minor finals” – basically a placing race for fifth to eight spots – and came in second at 25.296 behind Chinese Taipei (25.227).
China’s Team 2 grabbed the gold with a 22.496-second effort that shattered Phl’s 23-second world mark.
It was the same story in the 500m, where the Filipinos crashed out of the title picture with a fourth-place finish in the semifinals (1:59.396). They again placed second in the minor finals at 2:00.741 for No. 6 in the event.
China 2 took the overall title after ruling the 200m, 1,000m, 100m, and 500m while placing second to China 1 in the 400m. Thailand outdid Phl and finished two places higher at No. 4 overall on the strength of podium finishes in the 400m and 500m.
“We learned our lesson. We’ll make it better next time,” said Cristobal, who thanked their sponsors Cobra.