27 NSAs submit roster of Asiad pool hopefuls

MANILA, Philippines - Twenty-seven national sports associations (NSAs) have submitted their lists of candidates for berths in the national team competing in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November.

They include aquatics, archery, athletics, baseball, billiards, boxing, judo, karatedo, rowing, shooting, wrestling, weightlifting, triathlon, lawn tennis, taekwondo, table tennis, squash, softball, gymnastics, golf, fencing, equestrian, dance sports, cycling, canoe-kayak, dragon boat and badminton.

POC spokesperson Joey Romasanta, also the chef de mission to the Asian Games, said deadline for submission of aspirants was actually set last Feb. 15 but moved to yesterday to give the NSAs more time to evaluate their respective rosters for inclusion in the national pool.

“We extended the deadline up to today (yesterday). By Monday, we expect all the NSAs concerned to have complied with our requirements,” Romasanta said during the Scoop sa Kamayan session at Kamayan-Padre Faura.   

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has not yet submitted its lineup along with wushu, chess, dragonboat, soft tennis, squash, sepak takraw, volleyball and football, according to Romasanta, also the head of the special working group overseeing the selection of the athletes for the quadrennial meet. 

The other members of group are Benjamin Espiritu, Moying Martelino, Mario Tanchangco, Go Teng Kok and Jeff Tamayo,

Romasanta said the athletes in the pool will be regularly evaluated in the next six months before the country submits the official entries by names to the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee in August.

“We’d like to level the playing field within that time frame so that the athletes will have equal chances of qualifying to the Asian Games,” said Romasanta.

He also advised the NSAs not to recommend athletes to the training pool for the sake of “exposure,” stressing the field must have the potentials to win.

“In our country, the measurement of a successful participation depends on the total number of medals the RP team won. I told the NSA heads that if they think that if some of their players are not capable of winning, they should not include it in the list because it might just jeopardize the whole performance of the team,” Romasanta said in Filipino.

There are 42 sports calendared in Guangzhou Games with the Philippine set to participate in 35 events.

In the 2006 Doha Asiad, the country sent 233 athletes and won four gold, six silver and nine bronze medals from boxing, billiards, wushu, karatedo, golf, taekwondo and tennis.