Buhain sees ray of hope for Pinoys

ATHENS, Greece–Seeing boxer Romeo Brin and archer Jasmin Figueroa’s recent triumphs over classier opponents as a ray of hope for the country’s Olympic campaign, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Eric Buhain on Tuesday rallied Filipino athletes to "take their games one step further" in their drive to win a medal here.

"While we are one step closer to our hope for a medal, we are one in prayers with the rest of our countrymen in seeing a Filipino up there in the podium, and hopefully, with a gold medal finally adorning a Filipino’s neck and our national anthem being played," Buhain said.

Brin outclassed the taller Uganda-born Patrick Bogere of Sweden, 45-35, in their light welterweight clash on Sunday to earn a second round berth, making up for Filipino-American Christopher Camat’s early exit from the middleweight category on Saturday.

Buhain praised Brin’s big fighting heart but could not help giving special mention to Figueroa’s "miracle of an upset" over two-time Olympic medalist and former world champion Natalia Valeeva of Italy, who bowed to the "always smiling" Filipina in their elimination round face-off.

"That (Figueroa win) was totally huge! That was a miracle of an upset considering the stature of her foe. But Jasmin was awesome, she showed what a Filipina’s heart is made of," Buhain said.

"We are very proud of our athletes because they are giving all their heart against a very strong foreign field. More than 80 million Filipinos are encouraging them to take their games one step further in our drive for a medal," Buhain added.

With the arrival of the three taekwondo jins here, Buhain noted the chances of the Philippine team, beneficiaries of the PSC’s "Go for Gold Medal in Athens" (Go GMA!) project, of breaking the jinx of Sydney, where the RP contingent went home empty-handed.

Buhain said Tshomlee Go, Donnie Geisler and Toni Rivero have shown great improvement since being exposed to many international competitions and grueling training stints that rival only those of the boxers, chief source of the country’s past Olympic medals.

"With these three (jins), we are banking on strong chances of a medal finish, if not a stab at the gold medal. And with boxers Brin, Violito Payla and Harry Tañamor, we would be able to break the jinx of Sydney," Buhain said. "And of course, we should not forget Jasmin’s big chance in archery."

Figueroa was to face world-rated Spanish star archer Almudena Gallardo on Tuesday in the round of 32 of the match play event, while flyweight Payla was to meet Uzbekistan’s Tulashboy Doniorov also on Tuesday with a chance of advancing to the second round, having beaten his foe twice in the past.

The Uzbek pug is a favorite doormat for Payla, beating him once in the Busan Asian Games and then again in the Asian Olympic qualifying in Puerto Princesa last January.

Light flyweight Tañamor, tipped for at least a bronze medal by the prestigious Sports Illustrated magazine, collides with Tajikistan’s Sherali Dostiev today (Wednesday), while Brin goes up against Thailand’s Manus Boonjumnong, who was also outclassed by Brin in the Asian Olympic qualifying in Palawan, on Aug. 19.