CEBU CITY, Philippines — A total of 656 athletes will don the Philippines’ tri-colors in the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Hanoi, Vietnam in May, according to the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).
The announcement on Monday, showed a slight increase of the number of athletes for the Philippine delegation in the SEA Games that was postponed from December to May due to the COVID-19 uptrend in the region.
In January, the POC expected 627 athletes to compete in the biennial meet.
The Philippines will try to top the medal tally, which it achieved in the 2019 SEA Games in Manila. The Philippines amassed a total of 387 medals: 149 gold medals, 117 silver medals, and 121 bronze medals after 1,115 Filipino athletes competed in the games.
With two and a half months to go, POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said that majority of the 39 national sports associations, which are fielding athletes to Vietnam have submitted tentative rosters for the May 12 to 25 Games.
The Philippines is competing in 39 of the 40 sports programmed by Vietnam for its only second hosting of the Games since 2003. In these 39 sports, the country is participating in 44 disciplines, according to Tolentino.
“Comparing the numbers when we hosted the Games in 2019, we’ll have a delegation that’s slashed almost in half from three years ago. And a quick look at the numbers show we’ll be hard-pressed to repeat as overall champions,” said Tolentino.
“But we’ll have a fighting team in Vietnam, setting aside the difficulties of training and competing or training overseas because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Of the 44 disciplines, the POC has yet to receive a tentative list for athletics, men’s 3×3 and 5×5 basketball, weightlifting and jiujitsu.
The deadline for the submission of entries by names is on March 12 and Tolentino said the POC is hopeful to complete the list—including expected revisions from NSAs which already complied with the body’s February 24 internal deadline—by then.
“Several NSAs were allowed to submit tentative lists because they’re still completing their final qualifications or trials,” he said.
The estimated size of the delegation is pegged at 874 that includes team officials, coaches, team managers, medical team, administrative staff and NSA representatives.
Competition venues for Filipino athletes are spread out in four clusters although majority will be in the main hub of Hanoi, Tolentino said.
The POC based the clusters on their proximity to Hanoi.
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