Pinned down by the Asian Games rivals’ beefed-up squad, Philippine judo is hoping to get back on its feet and re-trace its steps back to the Olympics.
Philippine Judo Federation secretary general Dave Carter told DAILY TRIBUNE that they will have to go back to square one after the debacle they suffered during the Hangzhou Asian Games.
“We realized that we have to go back to the drawing board. We noticed a lot of countries have gotten a lot stronger, even our Southeast Asian counterparts have gotten foreign players via naturalization,” Carter said during the Philippine World Judo Day Championship 2023 last Sunday.
“Even Cambodia has gotten some foreign and Japanese players as well.”
The Filipino judokas’ Asiad stint ended empty-handed as none from its nine-man delegation took home a medal in the recent Asiad.
Filipino-Japanese Kiyomi Watanabe, the country’s top judoka, fell short of a shot at the bronze medal after losing to Esmigul Kuyulova of Kazakhstan in the repechage of the women’s -63-kilogram event after making it to the quarterfinal event.
The only other Filipino judoka to come close to bringing home a medal was Ryoko Salinas who lost to Liao Yu Jung of Chinese Taipei in the repechage.
Carter said the athletes will have to train and compete overseas in hopes of boosting their respective Olympic bids before the 23 June 2024 deadline.
Only the top 17 judokas in the International Judo Federation rankings or via a continental quota will get a slot for the Summer Games.
Aspirants will have to earn points by joining various IJF-sanctioned competitions and boosting their rankings throughout the qualification period.
As of writing, Watanabe is at No. 67 in her category with 327 points and is listed as eligible to enter the Paris Olympics via the continental quota.
“The competitions that are part of the qualifiers continue until June so we have to keep joining for the qualifying points,” Carter said.
PJF president Alexander Sulit said he held a meeting in China with the coaches and officials after their campaign to discuss their plans moving forward.
“The Asian Games was an eye-opener. The draw affected us because, at the first and second rounds, we faced Japan early,” Sulit said.
“Other than that, we already had action plans for the national team and we’re setting up a program to help them prepare for the competitions, especially in the Olympic qualifiers.”
