MALAYSIA FORMALLY HANDS OVER SEAG HOSTING TO PH
KUALA LUMPUR—THE Philippines officially claimed hosting right sf ort he3 0t hs outheas ta sian Games from Malaysia on Thursday .T aking the overall cro wn f rom the previo ush osts, however, may beal ot trickier.
Malaysia is dead serious in retaining its overall title in the SEA Games, as it will send an army of 1,061 athletes vying in all but fou ro f the 56 sports in t he c oming 11-natio n sp ortsfes tt he Philippines wi ll h ost late rt his year.
Top Malaysian sports officials, led by Olympic Council of Malaysi ap resident Norza Zakaria, hande do ve rt he symbolic SEA Games flame tot he Philippines on Thursd aya tb ukit Jalil National Stadium here.
Though it had formally transferre dt he responsibility of organizing the Games and relinquishi ng control, Malaysi ahasn o plans of relinquishing the throne as the region’s best.
“When they hoste dt hes EA Games [in 2017] , t he Malaysians worked hard to win the overall championship on the irt urf, ”sa id Philippine Southeas ta sian Games Organizing Committ ee (Phisgoc) chief operating office rr amon Suzara.
From Kuala Lumpu r, t he lantern that carries the flame wi ll g ot hrough a series of torch relays in Davao City ,C ebu Cit yan dc lark.
I nbe tween those activities, the tor chw i lll ikewi se be p resente dto Presiden td uterte in Malacañang ,t he Senat e and t heh ouse of Representatives.
T he f inal destinatio nf or the tor chw ill be the Philippine Arena in Bocaue ,B ulacan ,d uring the opening ceremonies of the Games on Nov. 30.
Receiving the flame with Suzar af rom Zakari a an d top Malaysi an sports officials wer e Ph ilippine Sports Commission Commissione rc elia Kiram and Philippine Olympic Committ ee b oard member Cynthia Carrion.
“A swe receive dt he flame from Malaysia, we als or eceive dt he responsibilities that co me wit hh osting the Games,” Suzar asa id.
Also presen td uring the handover wer eph isgoc director of support an do perations Joj it A lcazar, Phisgoc deputy director gener al f or athletes village Arrey Perez an dc apas, Tarlac, May orr eynal doc atacutan.
New Clark City ,t he hub of the Games ,i sl ocate di n Capas, Tarlac, while Subi can d Metro Mani la f orm the tw o ot her clusters that wi llh os tt he majority of the sports.
Filipino athletes Pauline Lopez (taekwondo) ,I an Clark Bautist a (b oxing) an dt woti mes EA Games gold medalist Nikko Huelgas (triathlon) also witnesse dt he ceremony.