RP drops water polo, softball from Doha list

Softball struck out, so did water polo in the 15th Southeast Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Both team sports were scrapped off the RP contingent by the Philippine Olympic Committee yesterday for lack of funds (water polo) and the irreconcilable differences of its leaders (softball).

Baseball, meanwhile, remains at bat although the count is three balls and two strikes against it with nobody on.

Mark Joseph, the aquatics association head, has informed POC president Jose "Peping" Cojuangco that raising the funds needed to send a team to the Games set Dec. 1-15 is now beyond the time frame left.

"Mr. Joseph has voluntarily withdrawn the team," said Philippine Sports Commission’s Ritchie Garcia, deputy chef-de-mission of Team RP.

Warring factions in softball — former Rep. Harry Angping at one end and former Pasig Mayor Mario Raymundo — also brought the discipline down after the POC decided to exclude it from the official RP lineup.

"We couldn’t reach Mr, Angping this morning so we decided on it anyway," said Garcia. "We couldn’t send the best team possible because half of the players are with one group while the other half is with another."

Garcia also bared baseball chief Hector Navasero has gotten in touch with Cojuangco and has vowed to come up with the budget to cover the expenses of the RP IX to the Asiad.

"At this point, tuloy sila," said Garcia.

Meanwhile, Joseph said the withdrawal of the RP water polo team is a major concern for the swimming association and the POC since it would open the country to disciplinary action by the Olympic Council of Asia.

" P 5 million is a small price to pay to have the Philippines represented in more sports in the Asian Games specially since water polo, softball and baseball have done well in the last Southeast Asian Games," said Joseph who is also POC deputy secretary general.

He also said that Typhoon Milenyo has wrought havoc to the state-of-the-art TRACE swimming and diving pools in Los Baños, submerging the venue into waist-deep flood waters and disrupting the training of the national swimmers and divers honing up for the Asiad.

The athletes have been relocated to the Philsports compound by the Philippine Sports Commission to continue training for three to four weeks while repair works are being done on TRACE.

" The national divers mustn’t miss a beat in their training since arriving from their stint in China, " said Joseph.

The Doha Asian Games Organizing Committee (DAGOC) has given all participating countries until tomorrow to submit their official rosters known as entry by name.