The Cebu Province will send a lean but mean 75-athlete delegation to the PSC-POC Batang Pinoy National Finals from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2 in Davao del Norte.
The province finished fifth overall last year with 50 medals whne Cebu City hosted the National Finals. Its harvest was broken down to 14 golds, 13 silvers and 23 bronze medals.
Davao City finished fourth with 55 medals (15 golds,17 silvers, 23 bronzes) while host Cebu City salvaged third place with 86 medals (28 golds, 28 silvers, 30 bronzes).
Cebu Provincial Sports Commission (CPSC) official Brando Velasquez told CDN that their ultimate goal this year is to improve on their fifth place finish despite the lack of preparations due to the short notice made by the PSC-POC that a National Finals will be held this year.
“We really want to improve on our ranking this year but we only had roughly a month to prepare due to the announcement,” said Velasquez. “Although it’s a tough goal, we remain confident that our athletes who won gold medals last year can put up the same performances this year.”
He said that they will be sending only 75 athletes to make sure that each of them can avail of the P3,000 subsidy by the PSC-POC. He added that the province will also provide financial support to their athletes for the latter’s fare and other necessities.
Velasquez also revealed that the province is capable of sending more athletes if not for the Provincial Meet which will run from Nov. 23 to 26, or a day before the National Finals.
Cebu Province will compete in triathlon, athletics, badminton, lawn tennis, table tennis, chess, boxing, karatedo, taekwondo, swimming, wushu, basketball 3-on-3, sepak takraw and weight lifting.
The CPSC will hold a qualifying tournament for table tennis and chess on Oct. 29-30 at the University of Cebu (UC) main campus and Robinsons Galleria Cebu, respectively.