We learned a lot from SEAG foes, says Peping

NAKHON RATCHASIMA  – Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco said the Philippines has learned a lot from competitors including problems that have to be addressed when the Philippine contingent returns to Manila from the 24th Southeast  Asian Games.

The Philippines finished a dismal sixth overall in its worst ever finish since joining the SEA Games in 1977.

Cojuangco said countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore came here better prepared because of the training their athletes receive in their country and abroad.

“Countries like Malaysia send their athletes for training in the US, Australia and even Europe,” said Cojuangco, adding that the training period for athletes from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are far longer than that of the Philippines which gave its athletes only two months to train in China.

Cojuangco also noted a shift in recruitment programs in countries like Singapore which, like the Philippines, is taking in athletes from abroad with Singaporean roots to compete for their country in the SEA Games.

Officials and journalists from other countries have in fact noted a radical shift in the recruitment policy of Singapore which has enlisted complete foreigners which it offers dual citizenships to compete in the SEA Games as well as in other international competitions like the Asian Games, Olympics and world championships.

Its water polo team, composed of tall Europeans, swept the water polo events for the third straight time. It has a gold medal swimmer in Li Tao, who is from China. There are reports it will beef up its track and field and basketball roster with players from China.

Cojuangco said there is also need for countries to address the problem of regional sports which have placed host countries at an unfair advantage in the gold medal tally.

The regional sports in this year’s calendar are sepak takraw with eight golds, pencak silat (14), Petanque (9) muay thai (11), lawn bowls (6), rugby football (2), handball, hockey (2), handball (2) futsal (2),  polo (1), and squash (8) all of which resulted in a shut-out for the Philippines.

The host country also excluded certain events in martial arts and aquatic sports which the Philippines dominated in 2005 and increased the events in some sports where it had high gold medal chances.

Canoeing was increased from 12 to 17 events, equestrian from two to six, judo from 12 to 17, shooting from 25 to 34 and weightlifting from 10 to 13.

The most conspicuous was in boxing, where 17 gold medals were contested, 16 of them by Thais in a controversial final showdown with the Philippines.

Cojuangco said one problem ignored is the arrival of Filipino athletes for the competitions.

He said that while teams from other countries are here at least three days before their competitions, teams from the Philippines arrive only two days before because of the need to cut down on the budget. That gives them only two days to acclimatize while the other competitors, particularly the host country, have long adjusted to the climate and already got the feel of the competition in their workout in various venues.

Cojuangco said the POC had also recognized the food problem. For the SEA Games, the POC took in a dietician and Filipino chefs to cook Filipino food for the entire Philippine delegation.