Cojuangco to supervise unified cycling

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco will oversee the formation and preparation of the planned unified cycling team set to see action in the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia late this year.

“For cycling, this sport is being handled directly by the POC president toward fielding of a unified national team for the SEA Games,” said POC deputy secretary-general Mark Joseph in yesterday’s SEA Games Task Force meeting.

Both groups – one headed by Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and the other by former Philippine Sports Commission chair Philip Ella Juico – are reportedly close to agreeing to form a unified pool of cyclists set to dispute berths in the Indonesia-bound squad.

The top cyclists to emerge will get the monthly allowance from the PSC, according to its chair Richie Garcia the other day.

Meanwhile, Joseph said the SEA Games Task Force, headed by co-chief de mission PSC commissioner Chito Loyzaga and canoe-kayak’s Sim Chi Tat, has sub-divided the various NSAs (national sports associations) for the SEAG buildup.

The other members of the task force are Joseph, PSC commissioner Akiko Thomson, soft tennis’ Jeff Tamayo and former boxing chief Manny Lopez.

Thomson will handle basketball, baseball, bowling, football, futsal, golf, petanque, volleyball, athletics and chess, Joseph diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo, open water swimming, archery, fin swimming, gymnastics, softball and table tennis.

Tamayo, for his part, will oversee taekwondo, karate, judo, pencak silat, shooting, wushu, wall climbing, soft tennis, lawn tennis, wrestling and sepak takraw while Lopez will take care of boxing, badminton, billiards, rowing, sailing, dragon boat, water skiing, fencing, canoe and kayak and weightlifting.

Joseph also announced there will be a meeting of all SEA Games-bound NSA leaders with the Task Force next week at the Philsports Auditorium in Pasig City.