The search for the next Mary Joy Tabal and Hidilyn Diaz will start next year as the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will be holding the inaugural Visayas Open Tournament in seven key cities around the Visayas region starting Jan. 7 with the Sinulog Fun Run.
Conceptualized by PSC Visayas commissioner Ramon Fernandez, the Visayas Open Tournament not only aims to strengthen grassroots talent but also provide exposure for potential athletes who can represent the country in the 2024 Olympics.
The Cebuana Tabal is a women’s marathon gold medalist in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games and an Olympian while Diaz won a silver medal in the women’s 53-kg weight division of weightlifting in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The Visayas Open aims to find more athletes who could follow the footsteps of Tabal and Diaz. It will have 15 Olympic sports: karatedo, boxing, taekwondo, judo, marathon, open water swimming, triathlon, archery, shooting, fencing, weightlifting, badminton, table tennis and tennis. It will also feature arnis, which is not an Olympic sport.
Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) director Nonie Lopez said that the Visayas Open is for athletes aged 22 and below. Winners in each sport will be trained for free by the PSC until they are ready to compete in major competitions as members of the national team.
The first part of the Visayas Open will be the Sinulog Fun Run, which will feature 10-kilometer, 5K and 3K distances. Winners here will automatically be champions for running and will be trained for free by John Philip Dueñas, the coach of Tabal.
Cebu City will be hosting the first leg of the Visayas Open on April 8-9. The next legs will be on June 2 to 3 at the City of Naga, June 9 to 10 in Tagbilaran City, Aug. 11 to 12 in Iloilo City, Aug. 25 to 26 in Danao City, Oct. 27 to 29 in Boracay and Dec. 1 to 2 in Ormoc City.
Aside from the Visayas Open, the PSC will also continue its Children’s Games, which is aiming to cover 49 cities around the Visayas.