Phl eyes first Asian Beach Games gold

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is pinning its hopes on muay bets, jetski riders and windsurfers as it seeks a first-ever gold medal in the Asian Beach Games which fires off Nov. 14 in Phuket, Thailand.

No assurances were given but Philippine chief of mission Richard Gomez has expressed confidence that any from the Filipino muay, jetski and windsurfing bets could deliver in the 10-day event.

“We’re always hopeful that we can bring home more medals compared to the last beach games. But again, this is sports. It’s hard to make promises,’’ said Gomez during yesterday’s send-off rites for the Philippine delegation, including 77 athletes and 24 officials, to the fourth edition of the beach games.

Southeast Asian Games medalists Philip Delarmino and Jonathan Polosan are the top bets in muay, Billy Joseph Ang (jetski) placed third in the world championship and reigning windsurfing world champion Geylord Coveta is a favorite in the RS Class.

Melissa Jacob, a member of the bronze-medal performing women’s 3x3 basketball in 2012 Haiyang, China, has been tapped as the country’s flag-bearer of the event supervised by Olympic Council of Asia, the chief organizer of the Asian Games.

“We’re positive that our athletes will give their best to win those medals,” said Philippine Olympic Committee first vice president Joey Romasanta.

Pagcor president and COO Jorge Sarmiento was also present during the affair after Pagcor rewarded the medal-winning athletes in the recent Incheon Asian Games, Para Games and world dragonboat championships in Poland with cash incentives from the government. 

The Philippines has won four silver medals and 10 bronzes since the Games began in 2008 Bali.

In the all-time medal count of the Games, Thailand had garnered 38 gold medals, 36 silvers and 28 bronzes while China is not far behind with a tally of 32-26-24. Indonesia is third (32-16-30) and South Korea fourth (12-17-20).