BREAKING NEWS!

National athletes to train full time after inoculation

SLOWLY COMING BACK. Former world champion and SEAG 2019 gold medalist Divine Wally prepares for a kick at the wall at the Baguio athletic bowl where her image is painted on by Gladys Labsan along with two time world taekwondo poomsae champion Jeordan Domingez. Four other sports legends are painted at the walls: Hector Begeo, Jerry Dino, Erlinda Lavandia and Rey Tam. Pigeon Lobien

Trainings for national athletes bound for the Southeast Asian Games in November in Vietnam may start full blast training by June or July after they get their two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

“We might get our vaccines by May or June,” said long time SEAG contingent Daniel Parantac of the Philippine Wushu National Team.

“As of now, we do it on our own,” said the tai chi specialist as he does running at the Baguio athletic bowl and do the routines on his own and even teaching it to enthusiasts mostly senior citizens at the Rose Garden.

His counterpart from the sanda side, Gideon Fred Padua and Divine Wally are also doing modular trainings. They have their training on video and sent to the Wushu Federation of the Philippines.

Padua told the Regional News Group Luzon that he has been training as early as September last year. Wally, on the other hand, had to ask a leave of absence until the end of January this year to give birth to her second child. Kendall was born in January.

Wally said that training has resumed for her, but has yet to await word from WFP when they start their intensive and bubble training.

“Right now we do it on our own,” he told this writer.

Parantac, Jones Inso and Thornton Lou Sayan left late May of 2019 for their five months training in Fujian, while Wally and Padua were supposed to fly for Wuhan and train at the Hubei University, one of China’s top universities.

But the sanda side was delayed and their training was moved to another city.

They also saw action in the World Wushu Championship held in October that year in Shanghai where Wally won a bronze medals.

“Sayang walang world wushu ngayon, sa Texas pa naman gaganapin (What a waste, there is no world championship and it is to be held in Texas),” echoed both Padua and Wally, as one of the biggest wushu tournaments was cancelled and moved to maybe next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic with the United States having the most infection.

Former two time world taekwondo poomsae champion and a 2019 SEAG gold medalist Jeordan Dominguez said that training has intensified as early as January this year.

They have been utilizing the Baguio athletic bowl and swimming pool for their trainings, but not for bubble training.

“Ang set up sa amin dito kami train then three weeks before kami alis mag-iinhouse kami sa Laguna para safer para sa lahat (The set up is we train here then three weeks before we leave, we will have an in-house (training) in Laguna, so everybody will be safe,” Dominguez said.

Paul Rillorta of the City Sports Office said that application for bubble training has been requested for by three National Sports Associations: Muaythai, boxing and athletics.

The combative sports are expected to be housed at the Baguio Teachers Camp, said Rillorta adding that the application for athletics by the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association has been coursed through straight to the mayor (Benjamin Magalong) by Philippine Sports Commission member Ramon Fernandez.

“Commissioner Fernandez has been talking with the mayor,” said Rillorta.

He added that similar request will be made by judo and sanda, which yet have to make the formal request through their respective NSAs.

Homegrown kurash and former judo player Estie Gay Liwanen said that their chairman will be making the letter the soon as she hopes to come back to Baguio and train for the biennial meet.

The former UB plater and student, now a judo coach with the De La Salle University, won a gold in kurash in the last SEAG.

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