NSAs start justifying choice of SEAG bets

THE TASK Force Southeast Asian Games hopes to come closer to completing the national delegation to the biennial meet when it conducts one-on-one meetings with national sports associations starting today.

Officials said NSAs will have the time to defend the athletes they are endorsing for the December SEAG in Burma (Myanmar) during the meetings.

Among those with major concerns are football, swimming, dragon boat and basketball.

Men’s and women’s football carry a big chance of making the final lineup considering that the men’s team doesn’t have a regional tournament for the Under-23 division.

Both football teams, according to sources, will be financed by no less than the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

Swimming submitted at least 70 entries to the games but the Task Force said they have yet to receive credentials for any of them.

Olympian tanker Jasmine Al-Khaldi recently established a new Philippine record in the women’s 100-meter butterfly with a time of one minute and 1.71 seconds in the ongoing 15th Fina World Championships in Barcelona.  She beat her previous PH mark of 1:01.95.

Fil-American tanker Josh Hall also posted a new mark in the same meet, clocking 1:02.87 in  the men’s 100m breaststroke to erase the 1:03.89 set by Miguel Molina.

Also trying to make Team Philippines is the women’s basketball team Perlas ng Silangan which came up with a silver medal two years ago in Indonesia.  Dragon boat is in danger of not making the PH delegation after a reported internal trouble.