Filipinos aiming for desert gold

A belatedly-assembled group of Filipinos will try to land the country’s first berth in the FIFA Beach Football World Cup when it flies off to the Asian qualifiers in Dubai this week. The tournament will be held from May 6 to 10.

Beach Football Association of the Philippines president Mike Athab, who will be coaching the team, said that, despite the lack of preparation, the country has a decent shot to represent the region, due to a quirk in the format.

“There are six teams in the tournament, and three will qualify,’ Athab told The STAR. “I will also use the tournament as an opportunity to stress to the organizers that they have to invite us earlier. This is not the first time this happened.”

Host United Arab Emirates will play in Group A in against China and Uzbekistan. The schedule was determined at the 2008 Beach Football World Cup qualifiers draw held in Marseille, France last week.

Group B includes Iran, Japan and the Philippines. UAE expressed delight that the tough Iranians are no longer in their group. The bad news is, they’re grouped with the Philippines.

“The top two teams from each group make it to the semifinals,” Athab said. “Even if we lose there, the two losing semifinalists have to play each other for third, so we have one more chance.”

The matches will be held at Jumeirah park, with the top three teams proceeding to Marseille in July of 2009.

Athab adds that, if the country were only given two months to prepare, we would have a great chance of scoring an upset over Japan. In the past, our players have managed to score goals over world-class opponents like Iran even with little preparation. The BFAP will make representations with FIFA for inclusion in more tournaments, to improve our placing internationally.

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The 2008 Filipino-Indian Basketball League (FIBL) Goodwill Cup opened its seventh season last Sunday at The Arena in San Juan. This unique tournament brings together the Filipino-Indian community for afternoon tea and hoops. The two-month competition is also distinct from other tournaments, because all the players (with the exception of the sons of the team owners) are placed in the draft pool every year.

“There are actually two very practical reasons for this,” explains commissioner Dilip Budhrani. “First, it balances out the competition, since the best players are evenly distributed. Secondly, it lessens the opportunity for conflict and rough play. Your toughest rival this year may be your best teammate down the road.”

First day action saw the Blue Sharks edge out the Knights, 89-80, while the Kings ruled over the Bombay Bombers, 76-71.

2007 Most Valuable Player Manoj Chandumal, exploded with 22 of his 32 points in the first half for the Blue Sharks, adding four rebounds, eight assists, and two steals. In the second game, rookie Ajeet Singh topped scoring for the Kings with 23 points and 9 rebounds, while fellow rookie Vladimir Singh, named Player of the Game, sealed the victory for the Kings with two crucial interceptions in the closing minutes of the final quarter, and a game-high 16 rebounds.

“We executed well down the stretch, we played solid defense, and we did the little things. That’s why we won this game,” declared winning coach Mike Advani of the Kings.

Indian Ambassador Rajeet Mitter, Ram Sitaldas, president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce  and the Indian Navy officers and brass band attended the opening double-header.

Yesterday’s games featured the Knights, led by Mukesh Mohnani, colliding with the Bombay Bombers, powered by Ravi Gurnamal, while the second game will pit  the Blue Sharks against the Kings, at 6:30 p.m.