Isports ATBP.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Ricardo Garcia is challenging athletes that will make it on the official delegation to surpass the country’s 16-medal haul in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games in China. Filipino athletes collected three gold, four silver, and nine bronze medals during the November 12 to 27 16th Asiad to finish 19th overall in the Asian region’s quadrennial sporting event. “I am calling those who have already made it to the country’s official delegation to the Asian Games and to those still aspiring, to train seriously so we can improve and surpass the three gold medals that the Philippines won in 2010,” said Garcia, who is also the country’s Chef de Mission to the 2014 Asiad. The 17th edition of the Asian Games is set from September 19 to October 4 in Incheon, South Korea. One hundred and 42 athletes, from 19 sports, have already passed the criteria set by the joint Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)-PSC Asian Games Task Force including the tea...

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Philippine Sports  Commission (PSC) will be holding the Walk A Mile event on May 11 as  a way to drum up support for Filipino athletes that will be competing  in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. PSC Chairman Ricardo Garcia said the activity will also be held  simultaneously in other member countries of the Olympic Council of  Asia (OCA) to create awareness of the Asian region’s  quadrennial sporting event set from September 19 to October 4. “We want to help [the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee  (IAGOC)] create awareness on the staging of the 17th Asian Games in  Korea and also to generate support to all our national athletes that  will compete in the Asiad,” said Garcia, who is also the country’s  Chef de Mission. “This event will also inform our countrymen to support our serious  campaign to win at least six gold medals.” Four OCA officials and three IAGOC memb...

One hundred and 33 athletes that will be competing in 26 sports have so far met the requirements set by the joint Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)-Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Asian Games Task Force. PSC Chairman Ricardo Garcia, however, said the number could swell to as much as 360 after the final list of athletes, coaches, national sports association and POC officials, and other dignitaries are added when the Task Force submits the country’s accreditation on Wednesday to the Incheon Asian Games Task Force (IAGOC). “So far 133 athletes met the Task Force’s criteria. Already included are the team sports of rugby, men’s basketball, and softball,” said Garcia, who added that they will submit the entry by number to IAGOC on May 31. Garcia said NSAs can still make changes on their respective lineups until May 31. The Task Force has set a self-imposed deadline on August 1 for the entry by names in time for IAGOC’s August 15 deadline. “For example, golf submitted 24 ...

Surabaya is the top candidate for hosting the 2019 Asian Games after  the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) hinted that the Indonesian city is  capable of taking over from Vietnam, which withdrew last week due to financial concerns. OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, in an interview with  The Wall Street Journal, said Surabaya is one of the two final bidding  nations for the 18th Asiad along with Hanoi, Vietnam. The capital of  East Java lost to Hanoi during the OCA General Assembly in 2012. “Indonesia [Surabaya] does have a certain advantage. But at this  moment, there isn’t a specified candidate for hosting the 2019 Games,”  said Al-Sabah, who added that the new host city will be known during  OCA’s general assembly in September in Incheon in South Korea. Surabaya is one of the satellite hosts of the 2011 Indonesia  Southeast Asian Games with Palembang as the main hub. Chinese Taipei’s Kaoshiung City, in a separate report in the ...