WITH the national team’s success in the recent Southeast Association Beach Handball Championships, veteran player Rafael Andrew Agtarap and fitness and conditioning coach Gab de Guzman are bullish about the country’s medal bid in the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December.
“Magandang experience sa amin ito, magandang fuel para ma-boost ‘yung preparations namin sa SEA Games,” Agtarap said yesterday during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the PSC conference hall of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
De Guzman recalled their hard-earned triumph in the finals, beating fancied Vietnam 9-8 in a shootout after the two squads finished tied at 1-all after regulation play.
The women’s squad, on the other hand, settled for the bronze medal in the same competition.
De Guzman noted that, unlike other countries, the national teams for both beach handball and traditional handball have the same members.
“Kami lang ang gumawa nu’n. Other countries mag-kaiba ‘yung team nila sa indoor and beach handball. And like what we did in the beach (tourney), we believe we can perform at a high level in the SEA Games,” De Guzman said in the program supported by San Miguel Corp. PSC, POC, Smart/PLDT, Milo and ArenaPlus.
De Guzman and Agtarap said they already had a glimpse of their rivals when they played in a regular indoor tournament against Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia before the handball beach competition.
“Nakita namin ang aming strengths and weaknesses laban sa kanila,” said De Guzman, who, together with Agtarap, thanked the Philippine Sports Commission for supporting their build-up and participation in the meet held from Feb. 4 to 12 in Suphanburi, Thailand.
He said intensive training camps were a must, especially the men’s side which is also gearing up for the Asian Beach Handball in Muscat, Oman this May.
The Asian meet serves as a qualifier for the World Handball Championships in Germany in January 2027.
“We need to practice more and have a training camp, kasi if you really want a shot at a gold medal in the SEA Games, these coming few months are criticial,” said the PH handball team coach.
