Tai Lian faction pulls out of Asian Jr. Wushu championships

MANILA, Philippines – Alvin Tai Lian’s group decided to call off its earlier plan of sending a team to the 5th Asian Junior Wushu Championships, saving the Philippines of the embarrassment of having two teams in the biennial tournament. The three-day tournament, organized by the Wushu Federation of Asia, opens on Sunday. Competitions will be held at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion in Macau. Tai Lian is contesting the leadership of the Wushu Federation Philippines (WFP) with Tan Shi Ling whom former president Julian Camacho tapped to take his place. According to Edwin Pimentel, secretary general of the Tai Lian faction, they decided to cancel their plan of joining the event to spare the country and the athletes from possible repercussion if there will be two Philippine teams that would represent the country. “We are allowed to send a delegation but we decided not to because with two Philippine teams there, it may cause humiliation to the country, the athletes and the federation officials. It will be wise that we keep our internal problem here in the country," said Pimentel. Camacho, who serves as the federation's secretary-general, is also a known ally of Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Jose “Peping" Cojuangco Jr. He is also the POC treasurer. His closeness with Cojuangco is one of the reasons being mentioned by the rival group as to why the POC recognized Tan’s election as president despite the fact that majority of the WFP board, which elected Camacho to a two-year term from 2000, voted for Tai Lian in a separate election. Camacho, for his part, said that their group should be the true representative in the Asian championships since they are the legitimate body based on the POC recognition. Camacho added that new faces will comprise the team made up of six participants in taolo (form) and two in sanshou (sparing) with the WFP official confident the delegation can reap medals. The Philippines was the original host of the tournament but had to beg off due to the ongoing leadership dispute. – GMANews.TV