It will be the first time in SEA Games history, which dates back to 1959 when Thailand hosted the first Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, that 100 gold medals will be disputed in a day.
"I believe it will be the first time. And I believe that the battle for the overall title will be decided that day. It’s very possible," said Joseph Dumuk, an old, reliable hand in sports information gathering.
Although competition in a couple of sports like football and water polo started as early as six days ago, the formal opening is scheduled tomorrow at the historic Quirino Grandstand in Luneta.
The opening rites, both festive and austere, will fire off at 5:30 p.m. Early in the day and well into the night, a total of 13 gold medals will be disputed as competition begins in a dozen different venues.
The gold medals at stake tomorrow will come from athletics (3) at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, billiards and snooker (1) at Makati Coliseum, diving (3) at Trace College in Los Baños, dancesport (2) at Waterfront Hotel in Cebu and karatedo (4) at Mandaue Coliseum, also in Cebu.
When the Philippines last hosted the SEA Games in 1991, it got off to a blazing start, winning nine of the 20 gold medals staked and emerging as overall leader after Day One.
The Philippines held on to the overall lead the following day before it was overtaken by Indonesia which went on to win the overall crown. It had 92 gold, 86 silver and 69 bronze medals against RP’s 91-62-84.
The first gold of this SEA Games was scheduled to be decided last night in men’s water polo.
Dumuk, who will man the Team Philippines Secretariat (results gathering and documentation) at the Philippine Sports Commission main building, yesterday provided The STAR with the needed data.
Action immediately heats up on Nov. 28 with 46 golds and shifts to higher gear the next two days with 65 and 64 golds at stake, respectively. On the first day of December, 42 golds will be disputed, then 35 on Dec. 2, 65 on Dec. 3, and a hundred golds in D-Day, Dec. 4.
Eight gold medals will be tossed on the final day of the competition — four of them from chess at the Tagaytay Convention Center.
A total of 439 golds in 40 sports disciplines will be disputed in this SEA Games where action has been spread out in different parts of the country — from Metro Manila to Tagaytay, Laguna, Subic, Bacolod and Cebu.