SEAG athletes cheer Pacquiao

PALEMBANG, Indonesia – While Manny Pacquiao was about to slug it out with Juan Manuel Marquez for the WBO world welterweight belt, the Filipino athletes in the Southeast Asian Games here frantically found ways to catch the action.

The national teams of athletics, petanque, gymnastics, wakeboarding, gymnastics, shooting, and others commandeered the flatscreen televisions in the common areas of the athletes’ village, particularly the one at the second floor of Building B, where many of them are billetted.

A crowd of them even took over one of the giant screens in the gargantuan communal dining area, to the amusement of some of the other countries.

“What’s a Pacquiao?” asked one of the young liaison officers as Filipinos rolled their eyes in disbelief. 

The athletes yelled and screamed as Michael Buffer introduced the protagonists. But the cheers gave way to silent apprehension, as Marquez started to score against Pacquiao in the middle rounds.

The tension mounted by Round 9, as the national divers and synchronized swimmers arrived, dejected that they  were cheated in the judging of their performances.

This was tempered by the arrival of tennis captain Cecil Mamiit, who announced the team’s victory in singles competition.

All, however, screamed and jumped to their feet when Pacquiao was announced the winner, though some were incredulous given Marquez’s performance.