PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee President and Tagaytay Mayor Bambol Tolentino was right on the button when he said that Cambodian organizers had virtually clipped the wings of the Philippine campaign — and those of the other nine countries — in the 32nd edition of the regional meet set May next year.
Staging the SEA Games for the first time, Cambodia, as hosts, drew up a roster of 49 sports and 608 events tilted in its favor but also made it harder for their rivals to vie for medals based on its competition guidelines.
For example, had the Cambodians had their way, the women’s 50kg division in karate’s kumite (sparring) would have been scrapped, depriving World Games champion Junna Tsukii of defending her title in the weight class, according to Tolentino.
Like neighboring Vietnam, which staged the 31st edition of the regional meet last May, Cambodia loaded the calendar of disciplines it is quite familiar with.
Among these are the martial art of vovinam with 30 gold, fin swimming, 24; the Khmer martial art of kun bokator, 21; xiangqi, six; and ouk choutrang, six, the latter two chess-like games, which altogether account for 87 golds.
Filipinos failed to win a single gold in both vovinam and fin swimming in the Vietnam Games.
Artistic gymnastics will just have two events apiece in the men’s and women’s competitions, which means the Pinoy gymnasts won’t be able to match their glittering tally of seven gold, four silver and three bronze medals in Vietnam.
Neither will two-time world champion Carlos Edriel Yulo be able to duplicate the five gold and two silver medals he won in Vietnam, where he emerged as the country’s most bemedalled athlete.
The absence of bowling, where Pinoy keglers won two golds and one silver in Vietnam, will likewise dent the country’s overall bid to equal its harvest of 52 golds, 70 silvers and 104 bronzes in Hanoi.
Cambodia, taking the cue from the 2017 Malaysian organizers, has also limited the participation of other countries to 70 percent of events in combat sports.
There will be 170 gold medals up for grabs in arnis (12), boxing (17), fencing (12), judo (13), karate (17), muay thai (17), pencak silat (22) and wushu (24) but the country’s standard-bearers will only be able to compete for 119 golds, or a potential loss of 51.
This means that leaders of the 49 National Sports Associations that will field athletes will be compelled to choose their events wisely.
