PSC sees 3rd place finish in 2011 SEAG

By Olmin Leyba, The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines - Citing more than enough time to prepare and more funding to be infused for training, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia yesterday said a better-equipped Team Philippines could be good for a Top 3 finish in the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia next year.

“I would say that our performance in the SEA Games will be much better (than the previous fifth place standing in Laos last year) because our athletes should be better prepared. We should be at least in the Top 3, not in fifth or sixth spot anymore,” Garcia said in a media briefing.

In 2009 in Laos, the Filipinos collected 38 gold, 35 silver and 51 bronze medals, good for No. 5 behind Thailand (86-83-97), Vietnam (83-75-57), Indonesia (43-53-74) and Malaysia (40-40-59).

Hampering Phl’s campaign that time was the rift between the PSC leadership and their counterparts at the Philippine OIympic Committee (POC), which resulted in a separate “PSC-backed team” and “POC-backed crew” sent to Laos.

“We’ll have one team, one delegation this time and we’ll have more time to prepare,” said Garcia, whose agency is now in the same page as the POC brass in so far as policies are concerned.

Article Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/12/20/10/psc-sees-3rd-place-finish-2011-seag

During the last edition of south east asian games in Laos, the Philippines could have finished fourth in the medal standings if not for the rift between the PSC and POC. The country could have won gold medals in cycling easily, at least 5 gold medals if not for the rift, enough to surpass Malaysia for the fourth place finish. But let us all look forward, let all those mistakes give us lessons for our country to move on and become powerhouse again in the south east asia region.

via reuters