INCHEON – The Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee (IAGOC) was apologetic for what it thought was a diplomatic lapse.
The IAGOC felt it should have rolled the red carpet out for golfer Princess Superal, whom Korean officials thought was a princess from some part of the Philippines.
An unexpected courtesy call was received by chief of mission Ricardo Garcia on the matter, and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman allayed the trepidation of the IAGOC welcoming committee which thought they had committed a serious diplomatic oversight.
“The IAGOC felt they made an error in not being able to recognize a princess from the Philippines,” Garcia said. “An official was so apologetic for what they thought was a lapse.
“I assured them that there was no oversight on their part. That our golfer, in fact one of our hopes for the gold medal here, is named Princess but that she is not a princess of any part of the Philippines but a princess of our team just the same,” Garcia added.
When told about the incident, Superal was flabbergasted.
“Me, a princess? That’s cool!” she said in total astonishment.