MAIN ATTRACTION. Fireworks light up the sky over the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia during its inauguration on Dec. 18, 2021. It will be the venue of the opening ceremony of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games on May 5, 2023 and where track and field, diving, swimming, fin swimming, badminton, 5x5 and 3x3 basketball, field hockey, lawn and table tennis, and indoor volleyball will be held. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)
MANILA – Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh will host majority of the events in the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games scheduled May 5 to 16.
Competition venues in Phnom Penh are the Morodok Techno National Sports Complex (athletics - track and field; aquatics - diving, swimming and fin swimming; badminton; 5x5 and 3x3 basketball; field hockey; lawn and table tennis; and indoor volleyball), National Olympic Stadium (billiards, kickboxing, Kun Khmer, petanque, soft tennis, water polo, taekwondo, and weightlifting), Chroy Changvar International Convention and Exhibition Centre (arnis, boxing, fencing, jujitsu, judo, karate, Kun Bokator, vovinam, obstacle race, pencak silat, wrestling, and wushu), AZ Group Cricket Oval (cricket), Nagaworld 2 (e-sports), Olympic Marquee (dance sports, aerobic and artistic gymnastics), Garden City Golf Club (golf), Rong Roeung Hall (floorball and indoor hockey), NSTC Basketball Hall (sepak takraw), Federation of Youth Hall (teqball), and Royal University of Phnom Penh (chess - Ok Chaktrong and Xiangqi).
Football will be played at Morodok Techno National Stadium, Olympic Stadium, Prince Stadium, RSN Stadium, and Army Stadium in Phnom Penh.
Other venues are in Siem Reap (athletics – 20-km walk and marathon; cycling - road race and mountain bike), Sihanoukville (beach volleyball, jet ski, and sailing), Kampot (traditional boat race), and Kep (triathlon, aquathlon and duathlon).
The travel time from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Kep, and Kampot will take between two and six hours.
The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the Morodok Techno National Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 60,000.
Meanwhile, competition in 10 sports will start before the opening ceremony on May 5.
Football will begin on April 29, followed by indoor hockey and sailing on May 1, cricket (T50/T10) on May 2, chess (Ok Chaktrong) on May 3, and e-sports, jujitsu, obstacle, indoor volleyball and Kun Bokator on May 4.
The Philippines will send 840 athletes to Cambodia, more than the 656 who competed in 38 sports in the 2022 Vietnam edition where the country finished fourth with 226 medals (52-70-104 gold-silver-bronze tally).
A total of 1,119 Filipinos competed in 56 sports during the 2019 Manila SEA Games.
Team Philippines, led by chef de mission Chito Loyzaga and deputies Paolo Tancontian and Leonora Escollante, will lead a formal sendoff ceremony on April 15 at Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. (PNA)
