A well-prepared team and the support of the home crowd could just do the trick, according to an official of the Wrestling Association of the Philippines (WAP), organizer of the coming IV Southeast Asian Wrestling championship set Aug. 7-10 at the Badminton Hall of the Rizal Memorial Sports complex.
"They can dethrone Vietnam this time," said WAP secretary-general Red Dumuk in Tuesday’s PSA Forum at the Holiday Inn Hotel. "We have a full team now which trained under a Mongolian coach. Not to mention that the crowd will definitely be on our side."
Dumuk noted the Filipinos’ rousing performance in the same event two years ago in Bangkok, where despite a lean, six-man team, the country still finished runner-up behind Vietnam after winning a total of 12 medals, including three golds courtesy of Francis Villanueva (two) and Marciano Basas (one).
Both Villanueva and Basas will again spearhead the country’s campaign in the four-day event along with the core of the team composed of Jimmy Angana, John Esteban, Melchor Tumasis and Araneta Valda.
The squads – two male and one female – spent 41 days in Ulaan Bataar training under Mongolian coach Lodoi Enkhbayar.
Also in the team are Violeto Agustin and Roque Manaay, both of whom grabbed two silver medals each in the last staging of the SEAWC.
Also seeing action in the meet backed by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Pagcor, PCSO, Department of Tourism, Philippine Tourism Authority, Milo, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Tiara Oriental (official hotel) are Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia.