RP athletes drenched after wet opening rites

DOHA — So much has been said about the opening ceremony of the Asian Games here Friday many believed would go down in history as the best-ever staged that little has been told about what happened after the more than three-hour long extravaganza.

Scores actually found themselves drenched in the heavy downpour right after, a rare occurrence if one would ask local folks here. And the Filipino contingent was not spared of the misfortunate that fears flew that the national athletes might catch cold that could affect their performance in the next few days.

They include the bowling squad, which guns for the first two gold medals staked in singles today, although the boxing and swimming squads begged off to join the parade to prepare themselves for Saturday’s battles in their respective fronts.

"The security was so tight that they failed to think and let the athletes go back into the stadium. Pinabayaan lang na mabasa sila," said Philippine sports commissioner Joey Mundo.

Under the drizzle, the RP athletes, along with those from Japan and Indonesia, were already on their way to the shuttle service that would bring them back to the Athletes Village when the security herded them back to the small holding area just outside the main gate.

They asked that they be allowed to re-enter but the security wouldn’t budge although the big group saw one Qatari being allowed inside, forcing them to storm the gate.

They were all able to get in, albeit wet and wild, and waited for about 45 minutes for the rains to stop before finally being able to get back to the village. — Dante Navarro