by Waylon Galvez
Philippine team coach Jana Franquelli picked Thailand and Vietnam as the biggest threats in the country’s bid to win the gold medal in the men’s beach handball event in this year’s 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games here.
Franquelli said both Thailand and Vietnam have been to the World Cup before, giving them the advantage over the Filipino side.
However, she is confident that the Philippines will be ready for the challenge.
“Of course these teams definitely have the advantage in terms of experience because they’ve already earned spots and played in the World Cup, and they’ve also been playing the sport of handball for how many years now as compared to our national team,” said Franquelli.
“But that doesn’t mean we don’t stand a chance against them. We really have a strong chance in beating these teams and in winning the gold. We’ve improved a lot the past fe years, and one good example of that is when we finished fourth among the 12 teams in last year’s Grand Prix in China,” she added.
