Philippines vows to do better in Asian Para Games even without gold-mine chess
MANILA, Philippines — After a record medal harvest in the 20th Asian Games, the Philippines pins its hopes on its 69 athletes to the 5th Asian Para Games scheduled October 18-24 in Nagoya, Japan.
Philippine Paralympic Committee President Mike Barredo is confident that the delegation will deliver despite the absence of chess, which provided eight of the 10 gold medals for the country in the 2023 edition in Hangzhou.
“They made sure chess is not included because we will surely win. But I pushed for it. Pinilit natin,” said Barredo in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Philippine Sports Commission media room.
“But we will make up for that,” said Barredo, who thanked the Philippine Sports Commission for the full support in the campaign.
The Philippines bagged 10 gold, four silver and five bronze medals for ninth place overall in the last Asian Para Games.
“We promise to do better even without chess,” added Barredo, who was joined in the forum by taekwondo Para coach Gershon Bautista.
In the recent Asian Games, the Philippines bagged four gold, nine silver and 16 bronze for a total of 29 medals, the most since the country brought home 42 medals (2-15-25) in the 1966 Games in Thailand.
Barredo said China, which ran away with the overall crown in 2023 with 214 golds, 167 silvers and 140 bronzes, remains as the nation to beat.
“Kalahati ng golds kanila. They have two or three competitors in each event,” added Barredo in the forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, and the country’s 24/7 sports app ArenaPlus.
Barredo said the Philippines will compete in 11 sports including swimming, athletics, cycling, table tennis and taekwondo.
“Skills wise, we are right there. As we’ve seen during training, the consistency is there. No complaints,” said Bautista.
Barredo echoed the sentiment.
“The growth of Para in the Philippines has been steady. But we need to improve on our grassroots. That’s why we are pushing for Para to be included in the Batang Pinoy,” he said. (Pool story)
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