PH OPENS SEA GAMES BID

Beach handball, men’s football plunge into competition in separate venues on Friday

THE opening ceremony for the 31st Southeast Asian Games is due on Thursday but two Philippine teams – football and beach handball – plunge into competition in separate venues on Friday.

The men’s beach handball squad faces Thailand at 4 p.m. on Friday at the Tuan Chau Resort Ha Long in Quang Ninh, while the football team battles Timor Leste in Group A action set for 4 p.m. at the 20,000-seating Viet Tri Stadium in Phu Tho. Both are Hanoi times.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino wished the beach handball and men’s football athletes good luck as they start the country’s bid to defend its overall title in the SEA Games that were originally scheduled last November but were postponed because of the pandemic.

“To our ‘Fighting Team Philippines,’ I wish you good luck,” said Tolentino, who’ll fly to Hanoi on Wednesday, a day before the opening ceremony at the 40,000-seat My Dinh Stadium, the same venue where Vietnam opened its initial hosting of the biennial games in 2003.

Tolentino, however, reminded the 641-strong Team Philippines to stay safe from Covid-19. Three athletes tested positive after their RT-PCR tests and according to Tolentino, two of them were cleared after a second test while the third has yet to yield a negative result. Their identities and sports were not disclosed.

Formalities for the kickboxing events also start with the medical examinations, weighin and technical meetings on Friday with the competitions set for Sunday at the Bac Ninh stadium, some 100 kms away from the main hub Hanoi.

Philippine Handball Federation coach and training director Joanna Franquelli said the target is to improve on the bronze medal finish at the 2019 SEA Games in Subic.

“We have a chance for another podium finish but everything is unpredictable,” Franquelli said on Thursday. “I’m just hoping we execute our game plan against anybody.”

After Thailand, the Philippines faces Vietnam on Saturday at 5 p.m. and Singapore on Sunday at 4 p.m. On May 9, the Philippines will again meet Thailand also at 4 p.m., then Vietnam the following day at 5 p.m. and Singapore on the last day at 4 p.m.

The 10-member team is composed of Jamael Pangandaman, Josef Maximillan Valdez, Mark Vincent Dubouzet, Andrew Michael Harris, Rey Joshua Tabuzo, Manuel Lasangue Jr., Dhane Miguelle Varela, Van Jacob Baccay, John Michael Pasco and Daryoush Zandi. /