Funelas eyes first canoe/kayak win Thursday

JAKARTA—The Philippine flag was officially raised for the 26th Southeast Asian Games on Wednesday with delegation officials and athletes attending the ceremony at the Governor’s mansion here.

With a 512-strong contingent targeting 70 gold medals, the Filipinos hope to improve on their fifth place finish when competition in this traffic-heavy capital and Palembang province in West Sumatra formally unfolds on Friday.

While the Philippines is sure to surpass its 38-gold haul in Laos two years ago, doubts remain whether 70 victories would be enough to lift the country to at least fourth overall this time.

Canoe/kayak gets the Philippine campaign going in Lake Cipule on Thursday with Danny Funelas, who will campaign in the canoe 1,000-meter singles, looming as the country’s brightest bet to nail a first gold medal for the event in the SEAG.

Funelas finished seventh in the world championships in Iran last month and was the best-placed paddler from the region. He will also campaign in the doubles with Asian Games veteran Norwell Cajes and are hoping for spots in the finals on Friday.

Thailand and host Indonesia are the odds-on picks to contend for the overall crown, with the Thais sending a delegation numbering close to 3,000 who will enjoy support from their own cheering squads.

Indonesia, on the other hand, will be represented by more than 1,200 athletes as it seeks to unseat Thailand which ruled the last two editions of the Games.

The Thais, who have some world class athletes, nipped the Indonesians by just three gold medals in 2009.

Julian Camacho, the acting chief of mission here, pencak silat athletes and other members of the PH delegation attended the flag raising ceremony together with Ambassador Ma. Rosario Aguinaldo at around 10 a.m.

The spacious lobby of the posh Sultan Hotel was brimming with activity with delegations of nine other countries arriving and looking for their respective rooms.

There are a total of 20 hotels that will be used by the Philippine delegation in Jakarta, and after the first wave of arrival of Filipino athletes, Camacho declared that everything has been smooth so far.

“So far so good,” Camacho told the Inquirer even as he braced for overtime work with several more Filipinos slated to plane in Wednesday night.

The Philippine campaign actually started on the wrong foot after the Under-23 Azkals dropped their first two games and bowed out of the medal race in the football competition.

The Philippines also captured 35 silver and 51 bronze medals while taking part in 21 of 25 events played in Vientiane two years ago.

The country is competing in 39 of 44 events and will need to overtake Malaysia and Vietnam.

The rest of the karatedo and badminton delegations will arrive on Thursday with the biggest wave jetting in—counting the men’s basketball squad—on Saturday.