RP to surpass four-gold Doha finish - Romasanta

MANILA, Philippines - To do better than Doha should be good enough for the Philippines in the coming Asian Games in Guangzhou.

The chef-de-mission of the RP to this year’s Asiad, which is just 44 days away, yesterday aired confidence that the country will surpass the four gold, six silver and nine bronze medals it won in the 2006 Doha Asiad.

“Four golds is too low to become a standard,” said Jose Romasanta who was also at the helm of the RP team that won four gold, five silver and nine bronze medals in the 1986 Asiad in Seoul, Korea.

Romasanta was then the executive director of Project Gintong Alay, which later on became the Philippine Sports Commission, and he remembered watching the golden feats of trackster Lydia de Vega, bowler Bong Coo and golfer Ramon Brobio.

A total of 235 athletes will represent the country in 30 sports in Guangzhou, definitely much bigger than the 1986 squad.

There were around the same number of Filipino athletes in Doha, and four of them, Joan Tipon and Violito Payla of boxing, Antonio Gabica of billiards, and Rene Catalan of wushu brought home the golds.

Jose Cojuangco Jr., president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, said there were some close calls in the other finals events involving Filipinos, and with the proper breaks and all the luck, they may turn to gold in Guangzhou.

“We can do better than the four gold medals that we won in Doha,” said Romasanta, who is pinning his hopes on the three sports that delivered the golds in 2006.

“We have good chances in chess and taekwondo as well. We want more of our athletes vying for the gold,” he said.

Romasanta refused to give any number as far as his prediction is concerned. In fact. he said it’s not his habit of issuing forecasts because it could either demoralize the athletes or put more pressure in them.

“If you say we can only win this and that, it’s quite demoralizing to the others. And if you say we can win this many, you can put pressure on them,” he said.

The PSC is spending P30 million for this year’s campaign, and is leaving no stone unturned that the athletes get what they need as they prepare for the Asian Games.

“As long as they make their requests on time, we promised them that they will come on time,” said PSC chief Richie Garcia.

He said the good working relationship between the PSC and the POC should reflect on the medal standings in Guangzhou.

“That’s what we’re hoping for. That this harmonious relationship among us sports officials will translate into medals,” he said.