Australia and New Zealand will make it more challenging for the Philippines in the forthcoming Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (Aimag) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Makati City Rep. and chef de mission Monsour del Rosario believes snaring a gold medal will be no easy feat in the Sept. 17 to 27 meet.
“In the previous Aimag, there were only 42 countries and we brought home one gold and two bronze medals,” said Del Rosario. “Now, we’re up against 61 other countries.”
Though it will be harder to reach the podium, Del Rosario said nothing is certain in combat sports.
“There’s luck in combat sports,” said the secretary general of the Philippine Taekwondo Association.
The 180 athletes from 18 sports will be highly motivated to capture medals since a gold is worth P2 million, a silver P1 million and a bronze P400,000.