UNLIKE other national athletes, Filipino kickboxers will have twin missions when they compete in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games at the Bach Ninh Gymnasium in the Bac Ninh provincial capital of Bac Ninh, 38.6 kilometers northwest of the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
Some of them — three men and three women – will take up double duty for flag and country as they also see action in the Vietnamese martial art of vovinam from May 18 to 22 at the Soc Son Gymnasium in Hanoi.
With majority of them current and former athletes of fabled Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao, the team is composed of Daryl Chulipas, Jomar Esteban, Carlos Alvarez, Kurt Lubrica, Emmanuel Cantores, Jean Claude Saclag and Honorio Banario for the men’s division; Renalyn Daquel, Gretel de Paz, Claudine Veloso, Gina Araos and Zephania Ngay for the kickboxing women’s squad; and Renato Cha Jr., Lito Adiwang and Carlo Von Buminaang in the men’s vovinam. Ngaya, Araos and Jenelyn Olsim make up the women’s vovinam team.
Team manager Roselyn Hung was bullish about the prospects of the kickboxing squad, saying that given its extensive training and Team Lakay pedigree, it has what it takes to match and even surpass the country’s haul of three golds, two silvers and one bronze medal in the 2019 Philippine edition of the meet.
“Bragging a little, I believe that we can even surpass our medal output in the 2019 SEA Games because we have so many prospects in this squad who can win gold medals in Vietnam,” Hung said.
She added that having the celebrated Sangiao and boxing trainer Glen Mondol, who used to be member of the coaching staff of ring icon and presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao, to train the kickboxers was a huge advantage in whipping them into fighting shape.
National coach Randy Caluag declined to predict the number of golds the team could win but cited the mindset that Sangiao had cultivated among the athletes that “all of them are capable of winning gold medals. As coach Sangiao said, our athletes are going there well-equipped to win their fights.”
“Our ultimate goal is that none of them will go home without a medal around their neck,” said Caluag, who arrived with the team members last week from their more than two months of intensive training in Benguet.
Hung likewise cited the experience of some of athletes in international play like Saclag, a former wushu athlete in sanda (sparring), who will try to retain his crown in the men’s minus 63.5kg division.
She also noted the medal chances of the national vovinam campaigners, mentioning the likes of Araos and Olsim, who have had experience in One FC competitions.
