Philippines to compete in Myanmar SEA Games despite dissatisfaction

MANILA: The Philippines said on Monday they would send their best athletes to the upcoming SEA Games in Myanmar despite alleged cherry-picking of sports to give the host country the most medals.

The head of the Philippine mission Jeff Tamayo said he was prepared for a poor medal showing at the 27th SEA Games in December but the country was not being deterred.

“We are sending the best of the best. This is all about the challenge to the individual. It is not about winning our place in the SEA Games,” he told AFP.

While some sports officials originally suggested just sending a token delegation – or even boycotting the Myanmar Games entirely – Tamayo said they chose not to look at the medals as the main reason for competing.

Many Southeast Asian countries have been irked by signs that events were being chosen to help Myanmar athletes win in the games.

Tamayo cited the inclusion of “chinlone”, a native Myanmar ball game unknown in many other countries as well as events like chess and bodybuilding, all areas where the hosts are perceived as having an edge.

He said Filipinos could not even participate in some of these additional sports as they are not played in their country.

In contrast, sports like tennis and gymnastics were dropped, possibly because the hosts do not do well in those areas, Tamayo said.

The Philippines are likely to send athletes to only 27 of the 33 events and a shortage of funds will probably cut the number even further, he said.

Despite this, he expects the country to secure victories in boxing, taekwondo and basketball.

Even if the Philippines fail to do well in the total tally of medals, they could still excel in “the ratio of athletes to medals”, he said.

The 2013 SEA Games will be the first major international event to be held in Myanmar since the end of junta rule in 2011. — AFP

source: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2013/3/13/sports/12828730&sec=sports

The decision of Myanmar to include its traditional sports in this year's SEA Games is 

so frustrating especially to us Filipinos. Sports like chinlone(Myanmar) and

vovinam(Vietnam) are in themselves unique, so unique that many countries don't 

even know how to play these games.I will not be surprised if the over-all champion 

in this year's SEA Games is Vietnam, and followed by Myanmar.

But still, we Filipinos are crossing our fingers that our players will be at their peak 

come December so that many countries will have a hard time beating our athletes.

 Good luck team Philippines!