Palaro standouts vie in ASEAN School Games

MANILA, Philippines - Palarong Pambansa multiple gold medalists Axel Toni Ngui, Delia Angela Cordero and Catherine Bondad lead the Philippines’ campaign in the fourth ASEAN School Games swimming competitions which got under way yesterday in Surabaya, Indonesia.

Ngui, the six-gold medal winner in the Palaro, leads a crop of promising swimmers that include Samuel Gregory Ongioco, Alberto Batungbakal, Mark Jayson Alindogan, Omar Philip Dacera and Christian Dimaculangan.

The girls’ team includes Erika Kristy Lukang, Kristina Bartolome, Maria Aresa Lipat and Clare Anne Galang.

Philippine Swimming League technical director Edgar Galeno and head coach Fernando Yumul, who head the swimming delegation, chose the swimmers on the basis of their performance in the last Palaro held in Lingayen.

The swimmers, sent by the Department of Education, will be competing against teams from defending champion Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and host Indonesia.

Indonesian Sports Minister Andi Makarangeng welcomed the ASEAN swimmers to the Games which has as its theme “spirit, friendship and excellence.”

Other sports the Philippine delegation is competing in are basketball, track and field, table tennis and taekwondo.