NCFP pulling out RP ladies from Asiad

MANILA, Philippines - Citing a slim chance to land a podium finish in next month’s 16th Asian Games, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) is pulling out its five-member women’s team out of the quadrennial meet in Guangzhou, China.

NCFP executive director Willie Abalos told The STAR that upon the instruction of NCFP president Prospero Pichay, he will begin facilitating the withdrawal of the women’s crew composed of WFMs Cheradee Camacho, Sherily Cua, and Catherine Perena, national champ Rulp Ylem Jose and alternate Jedara Docena from RP’s Asiad delegation.

“The NCFP has made an honest-to-goodness assessment of the women’s team and Cong. Pichay feels their chances are slim against opponents like powerhouse China, which won second place in the last World Chess Olympiad, India, and Vietnam, which beat us, 4-0, in the Olympiad,” Abalos said in Filipino yesterday.

“At the same time, this is in line with what the POC (Philippine Olympic Committee) and PSC (Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) have been preaching all along, which is not to send those with slim chances for medals to the Asian Games,” he added.

Apart from the “bleak medal prospects,” Abalos said the NCFP leadership feel the women’s team, which placed 44th overall in the recent Olympiad, does not have sufficient preparation for the Nov. 12-27 Games.

“They lack preparations and we feel the players are not fully concentrated on training, having to juggle training with work or studies. Some of them couldn’t even participate in tournaments we hold here,” he said.

With this, the NCFP will bank on the men’s team of GM Wesley So, newly reinstated board 2 player GM Joey Antonio, and GMs John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and Eugene Torre for its medal aspirations in Guangzhou.

The five will compete in the men’s team standard competitions while So and Antonio will vie for the rapid individual gold.

Abalos said the NCFP had already informed the POC of the delisting of the women’s chess team and will make a formal announcement by today.

This new development will further trim down the number of athletes set to do battle in the Guangzhou joust, from 196 to 191. Just the other day, the roster got sliced off by more than 40 after the men’s and women’s dragonboat teams were scratched off by the POC executive board.