21st SEAG to include RP's bread-and-butter events

Philippine sports officials are optimistic the country will fare better in the 21st Southeast Asian Games next year with host country Malaysia confirming the return of sports disciplines which are considered domain of Filipino athletes.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit said the Malaysian SEAG Organizing Committee is ready to hold 30 sports events with bowling, fencing, gymnastics, hockey, weightlifting, wushu, yachting, lawn bowl, netball, squash and women's volleyball added to the events played the last time in Brunei.

For Filipino officials, this is a welcome news since the Philippines is likely to hit a gold mine in fencing, wushu and bowling and may also have a strong chance in weightlifting, judo and women's volleyball.

"Really good news for us. Because of these additional events, there's a big chance we can win more medals in the SEA Games next year," said Dayrit, who attended the SEAG Federation executive council meeting over the weekend along with fellow POC officials Salvador Andrada (first vice president) Claudio Altura (ethics commission chair), Romeo Ribano (secretary-general) and Joaquin Preysler (SEAG task force chief).

Last year, the Philippines won only 20 gold medals for a miserable fifth place finish while participating in 19 of only 21 events played in the 20th SEAG in Brunei.