Paeng chosen as RP flag bearer in Asian Games

World-renowned bowler Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno was chosen as the Philippine's flag bearer in the Doha, Qatar Asian Games this December. The Philippine Olympic Committee executive board in a meeting Tuesday unanimously agreed to give Nepomuceno the privilege of parading the country's flag during the opening ceremonies of the event on December 1. Nepomuceno was chosen as the Philippines' flag bearer because of his stature as the only Filipino who will be going back to the Games aiming for a repeat of his gold medal campaign during the 2002 Busan Edition of the Asian Games. Meanwhile, the POC executive committee has finalized the Philippine delegation's schedule of departure to Doha. A 22-person baseball delegation will be the first to leave for the Games on November 26. On November 24, a four-man advance team led by PSC chairman and chief of mission William Ramirez will depart to ensure the smooth arrival of the 351-person national delegation to their billeting areas. The biggest number of delegation to leave the country will be on November 28 wherein a total of 86 persons will fly to Doha. Included in this delegation are 13 members of the aquatics team; six from beach volley; 12 from boxing; five from chess; three from gymnastics; eight from judo; 11 from sepak takraw; 16 from shooting; nine from soft tennis; and three from weightlifting. "The schedule of arrival and departure was arranged in such a way to free up space for late-arriving Philippine athletes and coaches in the Village since 316 individuals can be accommodated at any given time," said Nestor Ilagan, a ranking member of the Philippine Asian Games secretariat. Other members of the delegation will fly to Doha on November 29 – bowling (15), cycling-road (10), rowing (5) and equestrian (2); November 30 – billiards (12) at lawn tennis (9); December 1 – taekwondo (16), athletics (15); December 3 – triathlon (6); December 4 – equestrian (1); December 5 – golf (11), wrestling (9), bodybuilding (4), archery (11), fencing (16), cycling-track (9), equestrian (1). Members of the delegation are allowed to live in their billeting hotels two days prior to their competitions and three days after their commitments. Because of this, members of the gymnastics, weightlifting, cycling, baseball, table tennis, swimming, rowing and triathlon will be home by December 7 while members of the aquatics-diving (8), canoe-kayak (6), squash (3) and wushu (12) will be flying to their destinations in Doha. The last team to leave the country for Qatar is the 11-person karate team which will fly on December 8. -GMANews.TV