By REY C. LACHICA
DESPITE the initial hiccups during the early arrival of athletes from other countries, Filipino sporting fans are still in for a big treat when action in the 30th SEA Games begins in various venues.
For one, most of the region’s fastest, strongest and toughest athletes are here – all ready to show what they got.
Even the richest athletes in the region – Prince Mateen and Princess Azemah – children of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of oil-rich Brunei – and Rep. Mikee Romero – all polo players are now in Calatagan, Batangas.
Also expected to play in polo’s 0-2 goals event are Brunei’s Prince Jeffri and Prince Qawi.
And make no mistake about it, they’re playing in world class venues – the Miguel Romero and Enrique Zobel polo fields.
Some of the athletes to watch are three prodigious swimmers who combined for 19 gold medals in the Kuala Lumpur Games two years ago.
They are Olympic champion Joseph Schooling
and Quah Ting Wen of Singapore and Vietnamese Nguyen Thi Anh Vie. Nguyen was crowned queen of the pool after winning eight golds while Schooling got six and Quah five.
Schooling’s meteoric rise to fame – he received millions after that – began when he beat American great Michael Phelps in a hotly-contested 100m butterfly final in the 2016 Rio Games, giving his country its first Olympic gold.
Also worth watching is Vietnamese Olympic shooting champion Hoàng Xuân Vinh.
The reluctant hero won his country’s first gold medal by ruling the 10 meter air pistol.
For strength, there are two big weightlifting personalities who should be followed and watched – they are Indonesian Eko Irawan, and of course the country’s Hidilyn Diaz.
Both are Rio Games winners with Diaz winning a silver and Irawan a bronze.
Thailand has been banned to take part in the biennial sports festival for alleged doping so the two will have an easy path to glory with Diaz seeking her first SEA Games gold.
For grace and courage, the country can always count on Cebuana star Margielyn Didal.
She became an instant celebrity when she competed in the X Games Minneapolis 2018 and accounted for one of the four gold medals won by the country in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Badminton players like Thai Ratchanok Intanon and Indonesian Jonathan Christie are also expected to showcase their world-class forms.
The 21-year-old Christie is Indonesia’s poster boy, having beaten four of the world badminton’s top five – Kento Momota, Shi Yuqi, Chou Tien-chen, and Viktor Axelsen.
Not to be left out are gymnast Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena – both are already assured of berths to the Tokyo Olympics next year.
Yulo, the 19-year-old pride of Leveriza, Manila, dazzled the crowd and awed the opposition with his powerful performance in ruling the floor exercise in the 49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany in October.
Obiena, on the other hand, became the first Filipino to clinch an Olympic berth by clearing 5.81 meters in a tournament in Italy last September.
Also worth paying hard cash to watch are the PBA star expected to whiop their rivals with the ferocity of grizzled warriors, as well as boxer Nesthy Petecio, who recently became a world champion.
And what about Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes?
The former world champion – both in the 8-ball and 9-ball – and who is long regarded as one of the best to ever pick up a cue will have his swan song in the SEA Games by competing in the 3 cushion carom men’s singles.
Hopefully, the Magician has some more tricks up his sleeves to pull off a perfect ending to a colorful career, with the SEAG and its world-class athletes as his stage.
