POC submits names of 249 Asiad athletes to Guangzhou

The Philippine Olympic Committee has submitted the names of 249 athletes who will represent the country in the Guangzhou Asian Games in China this November.

The list sent to the Asiad organizers last Wednesday included 48 bets from the two dragon boat teams and 12 from the women’s basketball squad that have yet to justify their inclusion in separate competitions.

The paddlers will undergo trials at the La Mesa Dam on Oct. 9, while the RP cagebelles have to win the gold medal in the Southeast Asian Championships slated in the country Oct. 24 to 29.

After dragon boat, the next biggest group is women’s softball with 15, followed by billiards (14), aquatics (13), men’s basketball (12), taekwondo (12), bowling (12), dancesport (12), chess (12) and soft tennis (12).

Officials have predicted an improvement from the gold-silver-bronze medal performance of 4-6-9 which the 233-athlete RP squad produced in Doha, Qatar four years ago.

Among the strong gold medal prospects are the billiards bets led by Efren “Bata” Reyes, bowler Biboy Rivera, Wesley So of chess, Tshomlee Go of taekwondo, boxers Charly Suarez and Annie Albania and shooter Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla.