FILIPINO arnis campaigners aim to corner most of the 12 gold medals up for grabs when the sport makes its overseas debut in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games to be hosted by Cambodia in May.
“We already made history back in 2019, when we bagged a massive haul of 14 gold medals in the 30th SEA Games. This year, I hope–and I am certain–that we can once again dominate in the Games,” Senate President Migz Zubiri, the Philippine Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation president, said.
Zubiri had a first-hand view of the national team hopefuls for the Cambodia Games over the weekend during the PEKAF Battle of Champions cum tryouts at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Judging from the outcome of the two-day competition, there could be new faces who will suit up for the regional meet that Cambodia will host for the first time on May 5 to 17 in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the Northwestern city of Siem Reap.
Both gold medalists in the 2019 Philippine Games, Jesfer Huguire and Jezebel Morcillo were among those who were upset in the finals of their respective events in the tournament whose results will have a large bearing in the final 16-man national team to Cambodia.
National coach Richardson Gialogo said that unlike the 2019 SEA Games when there were 20 golds at stake “we will only have 12 events in Cambodia so we need to send the best of our athletes there.”
Together with his coaching staff, Gialogo began to evaluate the results of the PEKAF Battle of Champions last Monday to decide the final composition of the national squad.
The names of the Pinoy entries will be submitted to the Philippine Olympic Committee by the end of the week, according to Zubiri.
