Arellano makes Youth Games

MANILA, Philippines - With the late inclusion of shooter Celdon Arellano, the Philippines is bound to send seven athletes to the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China from Aug. 14 to 28.

The confirmation of Arellano’s entry into the YOG was announced yesterday by Philippine Olympic Committee chairman Tom Carrasco after a communication with the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).

Arellano, a 17-year-old veteran of the 2013 Asian Youth Games also in Nanjing, will see action in the 10m air rifle event.

Philippine Swimming, Inc. president Mark Joseph also said yesterday that Roxanne Ashley Yu, also 17 years old, has officially booked a slot to the prestigious YOG which gathers the world’s best athletes aged 14 to 18.

“We are proud to have a swimmer in the YOG,” said Joseph, who cited the great difficulty to qualify an athlete in the YOG.

Yu qualified by ruling the girls’ 200m backstroke in the 57th Malaysian Open at Bukit Jalil Aquatic Centre in Kuala Lumpur recently.

A total of 222 gold medals in 28 sports will be contested in Nanjing among athletes from over 200 countries. In the 2010 YOG in Singapore, the Philippines fielded nine athletes but failed to win any medal.

Aside from Arellano and Yu, also making a late entry was 15-year-old Filipino-Canadian Zion Corrales Nelson who will vie in the centerpiece event of athletics.

Previously clinching slots to the YOG were archers Luis Gabriel Moreno and Bianca Cristina Gotuaco, artistic gymnast Ava Loren Verdeflor and triathlete Victorija Evania Deldio.