626 IN ALL. Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino (right) turns over to Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William Ramirez the country’s entry by numbers for the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam, at the PSC office on Friday (March 12, 2021). The country will field 626 athletes to Hanoi from November 21 to December 2. (Photo courtesy of POC)
MANILA – The Philippine team for this year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games will be a bigger group than what was previously said as Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Bambol Tolentino presented the entry by numbers for the upcoming meet to Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Butch Ramirez on Friday.
The documents for the entry by numbers showed that the national team to Hanoi would now be composed of 626 athletes.
Initially, the POC was keen on sending 560 Filipinos to the SEA Games, but following talks between Tolentino and the 39 national sports associations that will send representatives to the biennial meet, 66 more were added to the list.
“After a careful review – with the mindset of defending our overall title – we came up with these numbers,” Tolentino said as he presented the documents to Ramirez at the PSC office at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Philippines will bring in a huge group for athletics with 63 players, 38 in the male category and 25 on the distaff side.
Cycling has the next largest contingent with 39 athletes, while basketball and volleyball will each have 30 participants, 15 per gender.
Meanwhile, only 28 slots have been allotted for football, hinting that the Philippines will be fielding only one team for the event.
A total of 25 gymnasts will be called up for the SEA Games, while 24 taekwondo jins, 24 fencers, and 21 wushu practitioners will be on the team as well.
The allotted spots include 18 for esports, aquatics 17, boxing 13, canoe-kayak 19, pencak silat 16, golf 7, handball 10, judo 17, jiu-jitsu 6, kickboxing 12, karatedo 15, kurash 10, muaythai 12, table tennis 3, tennis 8, triathlon 8, beach volleyball 6, weightlifting 14, wrestling 13, and vovinam (Vietnamese martial arts) 6.
Tolentino later said he looks forward to the PSC's budget deliberation for the SEA Games scheduled from November 21 to December 2. (PNA)
