Team Philippines steps up chase

NAGOYA – From the sea to the range, the halls and the hardcourts, Team Philippines launches its drive for glory as full action begins at the 2026 Asian Games here.

The morning after the opening ceremony, Filipino bets with strong podium chances take center stage, led by wushu artist Agatha Wong, triathletes Fernando Casares, Iñaki Lorbes, Kim Mangrobang and Raven Alcoseba, shooters Jayson Valdez and Franchette Shayne Quiroz, and modern pentathletes Samuel German and Michael Ver Anton Comaling.

The women’s soft tennis team will go for broke in its bid to upset host Japan in the semifinals at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center; Prince Agustin, who battled back through the repechage, fights for bronze in teqball; while the Gilas Pilipinas Women seek a follow-up to their rousing debut against Kazakhstan as they go for win No. 2 versus Hong Kong in their 9 a.m. (Manila time) face-off at the Aichi International Arena.

While hopes are high for aces like Carlos Yulo, Alex Eala, EJ Obiena and Kayla Sanchez, Philippine Olympic Committee President Bambol Tolentino said there are many others across various fronts who can deliver.

Philippine Sports Commission chair Pato Gregorio expressed the country’s full support.

“As the Asian Games officially begin in Nagoya, the whole nation rallies behind our athletes as they carry the flag and the dreams of our country,” he said.

“You have worked hard and sacrificed much to be here. Focus your mind and remember your purpose – para sa sarili, para sa pamilya, para sa bayan. Sa bawat laban, ipakita ninyo ang puso ng atletang Pilipino.Lahat kami ay nakaabang at nakasuporta. Laban, Pilipinas!”

There is Wong, a six-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist aiming for her first Asian Games gold. Not to be counted out are the triathletes and the shooters.

Triathlon chief Tom Carrasco described Casares, Lorbes, Mangrobang and Alcoseba as “sharp and battle-ready.”

Shooting secretary general Iryne Garcia is optimistic about podium finishes, mentioning Quiroz as one of their top bets along with shotgun entries Hagen Topacio (trap) and Enrique Leandro Enriquez (skeet).

“I think we have a chance,” said Garcia, pointing out that the shooters were primed for the Games with the help of foreign coaches – an Italian for skeet, a Kazakh for rifle, and an Uzbek for pistol.

The team suffered setbacks before the Games. Young triathlon star Kira Ellis, a double-gold winner in the last SEA Games, was forced to withdraw after injuries in a freak training accident in August. Olympian shooter Paul Brian Rosario also had to skip the Games after a spill during a bike ride weeks ago.

But hopes are high that their teammates will carry the fight.

Much of the focus on Day 1 will be on Wong in Taijiquan and Taijijian in wushu and the combo of Princess Catindig, Noelle Manalac, Christy Sañosa, Shyryn Salazar and Hilary Paas as they pursue ambition against Japan in the soft tennis women’s team semifinals.

They have already made history with a guaranteed medal – a feat the team has been chasing since its first Asian Games participation in 1998 in Bangkok.

Wong wages her own chase.

“I’m giving it my all, all my effort, all the amount of discipline that I can muster and courage,” said Wong, entered in a field of 13 in a discipline where a participant performs bare-hand tai chi and tai chi straight sword.

She’s good for bronze in 2018 then skidded to fifth in 2023.