With Kayla Sanchez’s inclusion, Team Philippines is in a good position to win five gold medals in the 19th Asian Games for its best finish in 61 years.
No less than Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino believes that it can be done, saying that Sanchez has what it takes to win one or two gold medals for the Filipinos when they march to the prestigious continental meet in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October.
Sanchez is an elite talent.
Before deciding to suit up for the Philippines, she campaigned for Canada, winning a silver medal in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Her personal best in the women’s 100-meter freestyle is 53.12 seconds, which is better than the standing Asian Games record of 53.27 seconds set by Rikako Lee of Japan in the 18th edition of the Games in Jakarta in 2018.
Now, she’s going to compete for the Philippines — the homeland of his parents — after World Aquatics successfully processed her transfer.
But Sanchez is not the lone Filipino athlete who has a bright chance of winning in Asia’s biggest and most prestigious athletic conclave.
Also expected to deliver is world No. 3 pole vaulter EJ Obiena, Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, world-class boxers Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial and Carlo Paalam, Filipino-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe and skateboarder Margie Didal.
Obiena is regarded as the best vaulter in the continent after soaring with a six-meter record and is expected to reset the Asian Games record of 5.70 meters registered by Seito Yamamoto of Japan in 2018.
Right now, Obiena is in the middle of his European campaign and is expected to reach his peak as the Asian Games draw near.
Meanwhile, Diaz is also doing well in training as she is getting an extra push from rising star Vanessa Sarno while Petecio, Marcial and Paalam are tipped to be very competitive following their strong performances in the previous Summer Games.
Also expected to step up is Watanabe, who did well in the previous Asian Games only to fall short of winning the gold medal to the prolific Nami Nabekura of Japan in the gold medal match of the women’s -63-kilogram.
With her weight category getting scrapped in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, Watanabe is expected to come out firing to secure her first Asian Games crown.
Tolentino said winning more than four gold medals is very possible.
“I believe there’s a big chance that we can win more than four gold medals,” Tolentino told Daily Tribune in a text message.
The Philippines was considered a powerhouse country since starting to participate in the Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951.
Its best finish came when it hosted the Games in 1954 in which it emerged with 14 gold, 14 silver and 17 bronze medals to finish behind Japan, which topped the 13-nation field with 38 gold, 36 silver and 36 bronze medals.
The Filipinos, however, failed to surpass the four-medal barrier since winning seven gold medals in the 1962 Asiad in Jakarta. Their best finish was four gold medals that they tallied in Bangkok in 1978, Seoul in 1986, Doha in 2006 and Jakarta in 2018.
