POC confident it's sending a 'fighting team' to Vietnam SEA Games

The Philippines will see a smaller delegation representing the country in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games in May with only 656 athletes listed so far by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).

These numbers are lower than the 1,115 Filipino athletes during the 2019 edition, where the Philippines bagged the overall championship behind 149 gold, 117 silver, and 121 bronze medals.

“Comparing the numbers when we hosted the Games in 2019, we’ll have a delegation that’s slashed almost in half from three years ago,” Tolentino said in a statement.

“And a quick look at the numbers show we’ll be hard-pressed to repeat as overall champions.”

Despite the trim in the delegation size, though, POC president Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino said he's confident that they are sending a "fighting team" that can defend the country's title in the biennial meet.

“But we’ll have a fighting team in Vietnam, setting aside the difficulties of training and competing or training overseas because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tolentino said.

Tolentino also shared that the 39 national sports associations (NSAs) which are fielding athletes to Vietnam have already submitted tentative rosters for the Games.

The Philippines is competing in 39 of the 40 sports programmed by the organizers and in these 39 sports, the country is participating in 44 disciplines. Of the 44 disciplines, the POC has yet to receive a tentative list from the NSAs of athletics, men’s 3x3 and 5x5 basketball, weight lifting, and jiu jitsu.

“Several NSAs were allowed to submit tentative lists because they’re still completing their final qualifications or trials,” Tolentino said.

The estimated size of the delegation is pegged at 874 while also on the tentative list are 177 team officials (coaches, team managers and/or NSA heads or representatives) and 20 members of the medical (doctors, nurses and masseurs/therapists) and administrative staff.

—JMB, GMA News