POC bats for arnis, rugby in 2011 SEAG

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) is batting for the inclusion of arnis and rugby in the Southeast Asian Games calendar this year in Indonesia. POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr. will make the pitch in the Southeast Asian Games Federation Council meeting on February 24 to 25 in Jakarta, where the number of sports to be played in the November SEA Games will be finalized. Cojuangco, however, admitted that it might be difficult to have the two sports inserted in the calendar since 44 sports are already tentatively included in the list. "There are so many sports already, this could be the biggest SEA Games ever," said Cojuangco. Arnis, which has been declared as the country’s national sport, was only played in the SEA Games when the country hosted the 2005 SEA Games, with the Philippines winning three gold medals. The Philippines also won a silver medal in rugby during the 2007 SEA Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. The 26th edition of the SEA Games, which will be played in two sites in Indonesia, will have a total of 542 gold medals at stake—279 in the men’s, 236 in the women’s and 27 in mixed events. Cojuangco said that the POC is asking the national sports associations (NSAs) to submit lists of athletes that they feel are capable of winning medals in the SEA Games. These proposed athletes will be monitored by the POC and the Philippine Sports Commission. "With those lists, we will focus on having them concentrate on honest-to-goodness training," said Cojuangco. The province of Palembang in South Sumatra will serve as the main hub for the games, with Jakarta as the secondary venue. Palembang will host aquatics, athletics, baseball, boxing, football eliminations, gymnastics, petanque, roller skating, sepak takraw, shooting, softball, tennis, soft tennis, beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, wall climbing, water skiing, wrestling, fin swimming, cue sports, bridge, chess and weightlifting. Jakarta will host the football finals, archery, karate, wushu, basketball, judo, bowling, cycling, sailing, canoe, kayak, traditional boat race, equestrian, fencing, futsal, golf, paragliding, pencak silat, kenpo, table tennis and vovinam (a Vietnamese martial arts). – Reuben Terrado, JVP, KY, GMA News