The Pinoy jins said they’re inspired by Go’s Paris achievement as they try to regain overall supremacy in this biennial regional meet.
Go’s second runner-up finish in Paris gave him a ticket to the Athens Olympics next year. Team Philippines wants to earn more Olympic slots in the regional qualifier in Thailand in February but the RP jins said their focus at the moment is to bring as many golds as possible in the Vietnam Games.
Kicking off the Philippines’ campaign here today are six-time finweight defending champion Roberto "Kitoy" Cruz, bantamweight Manuel Rivero Jr., featherweight Jefferthom Go, flyweight Daleen Cordero, featherweight Kalindi Tamayo and lightweight Veronica Domingo.
Their first assignments would be determined by the draw set last night.
"We don’t want to make any prediction as to how many golds we will win. But our goal is to regain the overall championship," said Manolo Gabriel, head of the RP national coaching staff, including Jesus Morales III, Emmanuel Victor Veneracion and Korean Tae Hyung Kim.
"Our team this year is much better than the one we sent in Kuala Lumpur. Ready for the battle na ang mga atleta natin," added Gabriel, confident they can easily surpass their three-gold showing in Malaysia two years ago.
The Pinoy jins exude so much optimism they’re confident of waging an all-out war against the defending overall champions Vietnamese eve on the host’s turf.
The Philippines was overall champion in Jakarta in 1997 and Brunei in 1999 but was relegated to second place with only Cruz, Maria Nelia Sy and Veronica Domingo delivering the gold in Kuala Lumpur.
At 30, Cruz believes he’s still good for another golden moment here specially with him just winning a bronze in this year’s world championship. He also placed third in the world championship in 2001 and second in 1995 in Manila and in 1997 in Hong Kong.
"Maganda ang preparasyon ko at mataas ang kumpiyansa," said Cruz, unbeaten in the games since 1991 in Manila.