Phl to select AIMAG bets in five-day qualifier

Local officials hope to qualify more entries to this year’s Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) as it holds a five-day, pre-qualifying tournament from May 29 to June 2 at Harrison Plaza in Malate, Manila.

The five-day tournament will feature a number of combat sport events such as wrestling, kickboxing, taekwondo, karate, and sambo. Winners will represent the country in the AIMAG meet in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan starting Sept. 17.

“This is an avenue where we can find fresh talents, new faces, and hopefully maybe we find a new hero that will fight in Turkmenistan come September,” said Philippine chief of mission Monsour del Rosario during yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Golden Phoenix Hotel in Pasay.

Out of the 62 nations participating in the September event, Del Rosario thinks that the Philippines will have a better chance in winning combat sport events if they could gather as many fighters as possible during the pre-tournament.

“We’re trying to bring as much athletes as we can to bring a big team so we would have a better chance,” Del Rosario said. “I want to show the world and our Asian neighbors that the Filipino people are tough people, they’re fighters and they’re out there to compete hard.”

Del Rosario also noted that some nations will not participate in the fighting events given its 50 or less than athletes competing – which is an opportunity for the Philippines to dominate the events. However, it will not be easy because other countries will send more than a hundred, like host country Turkmenistan which will deploy close to 200 delegates to participate on all sporting events.

Aside from combat sports, the Philippines will also compete on almost every major and non-major event including athletics, swimming, billiards, chess, bowling, cycling, and newly added sport electronic games (E-Games). The Philippines will send almost 150 athletes and officials in Turkmenistan according to Del Rosario.

AIMAG, a pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years, will see its second tournament since opening in 2013. The Philippines notched a total of 39 medals (6 gold, 12 silver and 21 bronze) while China has the most which boasts a grand of 322 medals, including 162 gold.