Five days to hit target of 25 golds

NAYPYITAW—There are still 60 events left for the Philippines to accomplish its target before the closing ceremony  of the 27th Southeast Asian Games.

Filipino athletes are hoping to pick up more medals in eight sports with the taekwondo-jins entered in 15  events and the judokas set to compete in nine different weight classes.

Male tracksters Eric Shauwn Cray (110-meter hurdles), Mervin Guarte (1500m), Rene Herrera (3000m steeplechase) and the men’s 4×400 relay team are the top medal prospects in the remaining 11 events where Filipinos are entered in athletics.

Chess has three more events left, golf (4), muay (3), sailing (5), cycling (3), billiards (2), table tennis (2) and sepak takraw (1).

“The last five days will be crucial, but we can still achieve our goal,” said chef de mission Jeff Tamayo.

Sports officials have lowered the golden target to 25 from 30. In seventh spot, Team Philippines has 14 gold, 20 silver and 24 bronze medals.

Singapore lay sixth (22-20-31), threatening to send the Philippines to its worst finish in the 11-country Games since 1977.