CHED Palaro begins today

The best athletes from 16 of the country's leading school sports organizations, comprised of more than 120 colleges and universities, converge today at the UP Sunken Garden in Diliman to kick off hostilities in this year's CHED National Games.

Citing a conflict of schedule, President Estrada tapped Commission on Higher Education chiar Ester Garcia to represent him in today's opening of the week-long, multi-sport event featuring the clash between the provincial athletes and their equally-talented counterparts in the National Capital Region.

A total of 2,461 athletes will compete in baseball (men), basketball (men and women), chess (men and women), football (men), table tennis (men and women), taekwondo (men and women), tennis (men and women), sepak takraw (men), softball (women), swimming (men and women), volleyball (men and women), badminton (men and women) and athletics (men and women).

Expected to see action are two promising athletes, NCR's Jonah Genilza and Abdul Rahim of University of the East. The 19-year-old Genilza has earned a slot in the national team due to her strong finishes in the Patafa weekly relays, while the 23-year-old Rahim of South Cotabato has been a consistent gold medalist in the UAAP games.

Also in the fold are Cebu bets National Open junior sprint doubles winner Chantal Balani and high jumper Rosell Paculaba, a gold medalist in the Philippine National Games.

The CHED (Commission on Higher Education) has tapped several venues in and around the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus to host the other events.

National Capital Region entries are prime targets for the provincial entries, who make up half of the total delegation coming from the provincial members of the Federation of Higher Education Sports Associations (FHESA) led by former sports commissioner Tisha Abundo. The FHESA was tapped by the CHED to manage the Games.

Most regions are represented in the meet and Abundo said she expects tougher competitions this time around following the organizers' decision to limit the Games to only champion individual athletes and teams from their respective sports associations.

The FHESA is fielding champion athletes led by entries from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA), National Capital Region Athletic Association (NCRAA), Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA) and the Colleges and Universities Sports Associations (CUSA). These associations will represent the NCR and its nearby provinces against the creme of the provincial crop.

Abundo, however, said she expects revelations from athletes entered by other FHESA representatives, including the CAVAHESA (Cagayan), CARTESA (Cordilleras), BEAL (Baguio), STHESA (Southern Tagalog), CHESSAA (Bicol), ITSAA (Iloilo), NOPSSCEA (Negros Occidental), CAAA (Cebu) and CHERAA (Caraga Region).