SEA Games 4th place ‘good enough’ for the Philippines

JAKARTA—Romy Magat, one of the country’s two acting chiefs of mission in the 26th Southeast Asian Games, is realistic about the Filipinos’ overall chances in the biennial meet.

With a delegation that pales in comparison to the contingent that will represent Thailand and host Indonesia, Magat’s measure of success is practical: An improvement on the fifth-place finish in Laos two years ago.

Magat declined to say what the 512-strong Philippine delegation’s gold-medal target haul is, but conceded that a performance equivalent to fourth-place overall would be “successful enough.”

“We would of course like to aim high, but we want to keep things realistic,” he told the Inquirer over dinner Thursday night.

Magat and wushu’s Julian Camacho will be the acting mission chiefs in the absence of the ailing Sim Chi Tat of canoe/kayak.

“A good measure of our success here would be the athlete-to-(gold) medal ratio,” the tennis official said. “We won 39 gold medals in Vientiane playing in just 25 events. So we would need to improve on that and, of course, climb in the overall standings.”

Thailand boasts of an official delegation of more than 2,000, with close to half of that athletes, while Indonesia, which is bidding to wrest the overall title from back-to-back champion Thais, is fielding 1,200 athletes.

The Thais are leaving no stone unturned. One official has reportedly sought accreditation for about 2,000 more who will act as “cheerleaders” in the Games.

Magat is optimistic of tennis’ chances, though, with the veteran Cecil Mamiit again leading the squad.

Mamiit, who is seeking to win a second straight men’s singles gold—and third in the last four editions of the Games—answered yet another call for flag and country. Magat believes, however, that this would be the fiery Filipino-American’s last stint for the country.

“Cecil loves the Philippines so much,” said the 76-year-old Magat, secretary general of the Philippine Tennis Association for the last 17 years. “I swear to it. He has all the love for the country of his roots.

“But Cecil also has to look after his future. He’s not getting any younger. He’s 35 now, I think, and yet, we think that he is still unmatched in the SEA Games. We have offered him an attractive package, but I think he will decline it.”

Mamiit, who once conquered former World No. 1 Andre Agassi in a tournament in San Jose, California, receives compensation for his services for the country in international meets like this one and in the Davis Cup.

And though Magat said that the package offer was substantial, it cannot compare to the one Mamiit receives for being the hitting partner of women’s Grand Slam singles champion Maria Sharapova.
“We at the Philta understand where Cecil is coming from,” Magat said.

Until he gave up the job, Mamiit received about $5,000 (P215,000) a week as the hitting partner of Sharapova during tournaments, according to Magat.

The Philta, alas, could only offer him less than half of that, he added.