Baseball books Indonesia ticket

MANILA, Philippines—Baseball got the green light to participate in the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia next month, but the fate of the two futsal teams remained hanging in the balance.

Finding a private sponsor just in time, baseball will take a 26-man delegation to the biennial meet, according to Philippine deputy chef de mission Romeo Magat.

Futsal, however, remains uncertain as it has been given until Monday to comply with requirements and pay for its athletes.

Magat said two athletes from the men’s futsal team have expiring passports, making them ineligible for the Games.

Businessman Marty Eizmendi came to the baseball team’s rescue after agreeing to spend for the expenses of the delegation.

The Filipino batters are hoping to improve on their silver medal finish in the 2007 meet in Thailand.

Meanwhile, the PSC Friday released the third batch of incentives for former athletes and coaches totaling more than P4.4 million as provided by Republic Act 9064.

Cyclist Victor Espiritu, shooter Jose Medina, soft tennis athlete Josephine Paguyo and swimmer Sampang Hassan were among those whose incentives were released by the PSC.

Also receiving their rewards were Ricardo Ancaja of  billiards, Johnson Cheng, Nico Valderrama and Vicente Valdez of bowling, Anthony Lopez, Wigberto Clavecilla, Pacifico Brobio, Alice Andrada, Rodolfo Feliciano, Francis Gaston of golf, Lope Yngayo of lawn tennis and Giovanni Mamawal of soft tennis.