By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur — Hostilities in five sports kick off the re-start of the Philippine Sports Commission-Batang Pinoy National Championships in various venues in this province.
Preliminaries in archery, badminton, chess, swimming and table tennis start prior to the 3 p.m. open ceremony at the Quirino Stadium here where around 6,000 athletes from over 140 local government units are scheduled to participate both face-to-face and virtually.
Archery matches will be held at the San Ildefonso Central School (San Ildefonso), badminton at the Ilocos Sur Badminton Center (Vigan), chess at the Baluarte Function Hall, swimming at the Quirino Stadium and table tennis at the San Vicente gym (San Vicente).
Athletics, cycling and weightlifting, meanwhile, fire off on Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Quirino Stadium, Provincial Capitol Diversion Road and Caoayan Gym (Caoayan), respectively, while demonstration sport obstacle course will be held on Monday, Dec. 19, at the Sta. Catalina Gym (Sta. Catalina).
Other sports such as arnis, dancesport, judo, karate, muay, pencak silat, taekwondo, and wushu, meanwhile, will be held virtually via the PSC Facebook and YouTube platforms.
Around 3,800 athletes will battle face-to-face, while an estimated 2,100 will compete virtually.
The multi-sports event for athletes 15 years old and below was shelved the last two years due to Covid pandemic.
Tokyo Olympics silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam, who are products of PSC’s grassroots program, will provide star power and inspiration to participants when they grace the opening ceremony along with other VIPs that include PSC chairman Noli Eala, Province of Ilocos Sur Governor Jerry Singson, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Bambol Tolentino, as well as chiefs and officials of various National Sports Association (NSA), among others.
