Ramirez secures china games invite

PSC chair William Ramirez. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Philippine Sports Commission Chair Butch Ramirez has secured a front-row seat to the National Games of China.

The Games slated in September in Tianjin, Luoyang and Henan, is held every four years and serves as China’s qualifier to the quadrennial Summer Olympics.

“I’m very excited to watch and observe how they will stage the games,” said Ramirez, who received a formal invite from the Chinese Ministry of Sports. “It’s an honor to be invited personally by the Chinese government.”

The 13th edition of the Games, a bigger version of the Philippine National Games, offer 341 gold medals in 31 sports.

“We can gain valuable inputs from the sports officials there and talk to coaches that we want to hire for the training of our athletes,” said Ramirez.

Philippine Sports Institute national training director Marc Edward Velasco said the Games feature world-class athletes who only compete in the world championships and the Olympics.

“They train behind the scenes,” said Velasco. “You won’t even see these athletes play in regular tournaments.”