Guion clinches berth in London Paralympics

MANILA, Philippines - Powerlifter Achelle Guion has been awarded a bipartite allocation slot to the 2012 London Paralympics, bringing to three the roster of official Philippine bets to the quadrennial meet so far.

The entry of 2010 Asian Paragames silver medalist Guion was made official by a communication received by Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled – National Paralympic Committee of the Philippines (Philspada-NPC Philippines) the other day.

A campaigner in the -44 kg division, Guion joined two other early entrants, bemedalled powerlifter Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta (over 82.5 kg) and table tennis ace Josephine Medina to the London-bound delegation.

Dumapong-Ancheta, bronze medalist in the Sydney Paralympics, earned her qualification slot by landing in the Top 5 of the latest IPC powerlifting world rankings, a feat made possible by  her fourth place finish  in the recent FAZAA International Powerlifting Competition (IPC) in Dubai.

For her part, Medina, runner-up in the Guangzhou Asian Paragames and owner of four golds in the 2011 ASEAN Paragames in Indonesia, was granted a slot in the SF8 class by the London 2012 selection committee of the ITTF-Para Table Tennis.

“We now have two in powerlifting and one in table tennis who are officially qualified for London,” said Philspada secretary general Butch Weber, optimistic that more Pinoy bets will follow suit.

Riders Arthus Bucay and Godfrey Taberna, added Weber, all but need official confirmation for their qualification. Bucay topped the Road Race Men’s Class C2 and C3 events while Taberna bagged a silver in the Road Race Men’s Class C4 of the first Asia Para Cycling Championships in Malaysia, a London-qualifying tilt.

“We’ve received word from the UCI-affiliated local cycling federation that there’s already a notice for the two riders. We’re just waiting for official confirmation before announcing their qualification,” said Weber.

Seven other Philspada athletes – Isidro Vildosola, Joel Balatucan, Roger Tapia and Ruth Openia in athletics and Arnel Aba, Ernie Gawilan and Ma. Josephine Bea Riza Roble in swimming – are vying for berths to Aug. 29-Sept. 9 Games.

“We’re expecting six to seven qualifiers but it can go up to as many as 10, especially if our bets in athletics and swimming will perform well (in upcoming qualifying tourneys),” said Weber.