First wave of RP athletes, officials off for KL t

The first batch of the 502-strong Philippine contingent led by Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit and chief of mission Freddie Jalasco departs today for the 21st Southeast Asian Games set Sept. 8-17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Dayrit, Jalasco and a total of 122 athletes and officials fly to Kuala Lumpur aboard a Philippine Air Lines-chartered flight with the main bulk set to leave tomorrow.

Included in the initial batch departing for Malaysia are 11 each from swimming and diving, seven gymnastics, 10 sailing, 11 sepak-takraw, 30 shooting, 17 volleyball, 20 taekwondo and 16 wushu.

Making up the main bulk of the Philippine delegation leaving tomorrow are men’s and women’s basketball, billiards and snookers, boxing, badminton, cycling, fencing, karatedo, table tennis, lawn tennis, archery, pencak-silat, bowling and squash.

Athletics chief Go Teng Kok said the RP tracksters depart Friday along with the equestrian (show jumping) delegation. The last to leave are the water polo and cycling teams on Saturday.

The women’s football squad was the first to leave over the weekend while the boardsailing and the golf squads left last Aug. 25 and 27, respectively. — Joey Villar