The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has identified five sports disciplines which will undergo training in China especially in its national training center in Beijing.
Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) national training director Marc Velasco revealed Wednesday during the launching of the government-owned Sports Radio (918) “PSC Hour”, the training program was a result of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) forged between PSC Chair Butch Ramirez and Chinese sports minister Gou Zhongwen.
The sports agreement was also an offshoot to the state visit of President Rodrigo Duterte in October last year.
Duterte was the 7th Philippine leader to visit China since diplomatic relations between the two countries were formally established in 1975.
These six initial sports disciplines covered by the training program are: diving, badminton, weightlifting, table tennis, wushu and gymnastics.
Velasco, who was in the Philippine delegation that went to China, explained that these six sports are medal-rich and given the potential of Filipino to harvest honors in global sports competition.
The national training director and former national athlete said members of the national team who will be chosen for the program will have the chance to train side-by-side with top national athletes of China.
Velasco emphasized it’s a big encouragement to Filipino athletes. It will strengthen their level of confidence and competence and boost the country’s sports development in the country’s quest for an elusive Olympic gold.
Also included in the agreement, Velasco said, the Chinese sports minister has “openly offered” the exchange of sports technology, sports equipment and Chinese sports trainors, and the building of sports facilities.
Velasco further said the Chinese sports official has offered five slots for the Philippines in the form of sports scholarship at the Beijing University.
In the same PSC Hour over remote-live broadcast at the PSC building, co-hosted by veteran sports broadcast journalist Ricky Yap Santos and Cecile Quimlat, lawyer Carlo Abarquez, PSC executive director, revealed that an initial PHP228 million was initially allotted by the government sports body for the country’s participation in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games (Aug. 19-Sept. 1) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which include equipment, training and uniforms of the Philippine delegation. (PNA)
