Phl hopefuls face 2 SEAG qualifying cuts

MANILA, Philippines - National athletes will have to make the two cuts set by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) in order to be part of the delegation competing for the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia in November.

Deputy chief of mission Julian Camacho yesterday said the POC will make the first selection on July 24 from more than the 700 names initially submitted by their respective national sports associations.

“[The selection] will be based on the assessment of the respective cluster heads monitoring their training,” said Camacho, also the wushu secretary general, in the SCOOP sa Kamayan Forum at Padre Faura.

Selected athletes by July 24, however, must continue to improve in their training as the second and final cut will be made by Aug. 24. Those who will be selected by that time will be included in the entry by name that will be submitted by the POC to the SEAG Organizing Committee in mid-September.

“We will continue to monitor the physical conditions of the athletes even after the selection. They must keep on trainng until SEAG,” Camacho said.

The country will be competing in 42 sports that will be played in Jakarta and Palembang. Four cluster heads will religiously monitor their assigned NSAs even during the biennial meet.

Mark Joseph are in charge of aquatics, bridge, chess, fin swimming, gymnastics, tennis, volleyball and wrestling, while Jeff Tamayo are assigned in athletics, baseball, billiards and snooker, boxing, petanque, sepak takraw, shooting, soft tennis, wall climbing and weightlifting.

Manny Lopez, meanwhile, will handle basketball, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, dragonboat, fencing, judo, pencak silat, rowing, table tennis and taekwondo, even as Dave Carter is looking into archery, open water swimming, badminton, bowling, football, futsal, golf, karatedo, sailing and wushu.

All four cluster heads will monitor football.