INQUIRER Sports

SINGAPORE? Judging by his military resume, Philippine chief of mission to the Asian Youth Games (AYG) Col. Cesar Binag is as tough as military men come.

Binag claims he is a veteran of the war against the hated Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, where he says he was almost killed in the battlefield. His record also says he has had many encounters with terrorists and insurgents in remote areas of the Philippines.

He is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and last year joined the local Olympic body when he was installed as president of the national table tennis association.

Binag calls himself ?the new kid on the block? who is willing to learn the ropes. The Singapore assignment was his first big involvement in sports. At the time he was appointed to the post, he did not know what the job entailed. But he had enough confidence in himself to accept the challenge.

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As the days passed, the young colonel appeared to be more and more glum. The competition was on its fourth day, he said, and yet our athletes had not won a single medal.

The colonel was not shy to admit that he had, in fact, shed a tear in the privacy of his hotel room.

They were tears of depression, he said, over the condition of sports development in the Philippines. He equates this with the country?s progress.

It was a sad, sad state, he said, as he compared the Philippines to its Asean neighbors, most of which performed better than we did.

Of course, the colonel?s mood had changed by the time the competition was over. He was bringing home a silver and a bronze.

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More than a thousand athletes from all over Asia participated in the AYG.

Philippine Sports Commission chair Harry Angping said the competition will serve as a dry run for next year?s Youth Olympic Games, which Singapore will also host.

?But Singapore, I believe, is setting its sight on a much bigger sporting event. I believe it is looking to make a bid for the 2018 Asian Games,? the chair said.

As for our country?s performance in the recent AYG, Harry said it was a very good start for our young athletes.

The Philippines finished 18th in the overall medal tally and fourth in the Southeast Asian region behind Thailand (third), host Singapore (fifth) and Vietnam (14th).

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It?s not surprising that the Bahraini girls found it difficult to move around and score a single basket in the three-on-three competition.

Their religion required them to wear a long-sleeved blouse over their round-necked jersey, a pair of jogging pants and a headdress called hijab which covered the head and neck.

The Anglican high school gym, where the competition was held, did not have air-conditioning and was steamy hot. The Bahrainis lost all the games they played.

Erratum in the last column: The RP girls were not ahead but trailing behind Uzbekistan, 26-28, when the game was halted. The country was awarded the win by forfeiture.