POF Visayas leg unfolds in Dumaguete
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:38:00 07/23/2008
DUMAGUETE—A 400-strong Dumaguete team leads the cast of the 3rd Philippine Olympic Festival Visayas leg which unfolds Wednesday at the Perdices Memorial Coliseum here.
Two of the host province’s top athletes, 2007 Southeast Asian Games archery bronze medalist Wayne Larsen and Milo Marathon leg winner Gia Marie Gonzales, will lead the torch relay, which begins at the Quezon Park here.
Negros Occidental, with 172 athletes, and Iloilo province, which has 95, are also seeing action, along with Aklan, Antique, Bohol, Cebu, Cebu City, Guimaras, Northern Samar and Bacolod City.
Matches in medal-rich taekwondo and basketball start Wednesday at the Foundation University gym and the Lamberto Macias Sports and Cultural Center, respectively, while archery will be held at the Foundation U football field, football at the Siliman University open field and sepak takraw at the Catherina Cittadini covered gym.
The badminton event began Tuesday while the centerpiece athletics gets going on Thursday at the main venue. The swimming competition, another medal-rich event, opens Friday at the LG Teves Memorial Aqua Center.
Other sports included in this leg are arnis, baseball, chess, gymnastics, judo, karatedo, muay, powerlifting, softball, table tennis and beach and indoor volleyball.
Negros Oriental Gov. Emilio Macias, Mayor Agustin Perdices and POF and Philippine Olympic Committee chair Robert Aventajado will officially usher in the five-day event.
“The goal is to discover young athletes who have the potential to succeed in the future and we’re confident we’ll find some here,” said Aventajado, also the taekwondo chief.
The torch relay will pass by the Sisters of St. Paul historical marker, the public market and the Bell Tower of St. Catherine Cathedral before concluding at the new Gov. Mariano Perdices Coliseum. Steve Silva, contributor
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