The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) culled an 814-strong Team Philippines to the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games following the completion of two consultative meetings with national sports associations (NSAs) on Monday.
Cambodia programmed 49 sports for the May 5 to 16 SEA Games with the POC eyeing full participation in the competitions that offer 608 gold medals—the most Games history.
“It’s again a fighting team and the goal is to send the best full contingent as possible,” POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said on Monday during the second consultative meeting with NSAs whose sports are on the Cambodia program.
The POC already met with representatives from combat sports or martial arts last week and concluded the meeting with their counterparts from ball games and other disciplines.
Baseball chief Chito Loyzaga, chef de mission to the Cambodia Games, was with his deputies Leonora Escollante (canoe kayak) and Paolo Tancongquian (sambo) in the meetings held at the East Ocean Garden Restaurant in Pasay City.
The Philippines sent 656 athletes who competed in 38 sports in the Vietnam SEA Games last May, while the country had the privilege of fielding close to a thousand athletes when it hosted the 2019 edition where it emerged overall champion.
The entry by numbers per sports are: dancesports 12, esports 45, fencing 24, fin swimming 9, gymnastics (aerobics and artistic) 13, jet ski 8, obstacle sports 20, sailing 8, triathlon 10, athletics 47, aquatics 39, diving 2, bodybuilding 15, cycling 28, weightlifting 14, water polo 26, badminton 16, basketball 32, billiards 12, cricket 15, floorball 40, football 46, golf 7, hockey 24, petanque 16, soft tennis 12, sepak takraw 22, table tennis 10, tennis 12, volleyball 28, beach volleyball 16, arnis 12, boxing 11, jiujitsu 6, judo 10, karate 19, kickboxing 12, kun bokator 9, muay 14, pencak silat 17, taekwondo 25, vovinam 28, wrestling 18 and wushu 20.
Competitions at the 32nd SEA Games are deemed to benefit the hosts who imposed a rule that their athletes could field a 100-percent participation in combat sports or martial arts.
Cambodia also exercised its privilege as host by including two indigenous sports—Kun Bokator, a martial art practices by ancient Khmer military, and Ouk Chatrang, also a Khmer chess game. They offer 21 and six gold medals, respectively.
The Philippines hosted the most number of sports at 56 but with 530 events in 2019, while Vietnam had a 40-sport, 526-event Games last May. Brunei owns the record-low program of 22 sports and 233 events in 1999.
