Southeast Asian Games no laughing matter

Kayla Anise Richardson of the Philippines (center) finishes first for the gold medal at the 28th SEA Games Women’s 100m finals held at the National Stadium, Singapore Sports Hub. INQUIRER PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

Sports leaders should put in the same effort in preparing national athletes for next year’s Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur as they did in the recent Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission have agreed not to take the SEA Games for granted and will begin rallying the national sports associations to embrace the 11-nation, biennial multisport competition with enthusiasm.

“We must not look at the SEA Games as the lowest form of international competition,” said POC first vice president Joey Romasanta. “It’s time to take these Games seriously because that’s what the others are doing.”

Malaysia, the host country, kicked off its preparation as early as middle of last year while Thailand, winner of four of the last five overall titles, has a progressive program ready to conquer the field any time.

On the other hand, Singapore is expected to push its athletes harder, particularly in aquatics which produced the region’s first gold medal in the recent Rio de Janeiro Olympics courtesy of swimmer Joseph Schooling.

Vietnam and Indonesia are also perennial contenders while Burma (Myanmar) is slowly becoming a threat.

“This is not an exposure for their (NSAs) athletes,” said Romasanta.  “There are other tournaments to expose your athletes, but not in the SEA Games.”

POC president Jose Cojuangco Jr. and PSC Chair William Ramirez met last Friday and promised to keep their communication lines open.

“It was healthy and honest,” said Cojuangco of his meeting with Ramirez.

Filipino athletes finished sixth overall in the Singapore Games last year with 29 gold medals, 36 silvers and 66 bronzes.

The biggest challenge now for the NSAs is how to convert the bulk of the silver and bronze medals into victories.