Henry Lopez has been playing chess as long as I can remember and he is now in Cambodia to represent the country in the ongoing ASEAN Para Games in Phnom Penh.
For the next six days, Henry will play chess in the standard, rapid and blitz categories and hopes that he and his teammates can harvest gold medals specially in the men’s partially blind division. Sander Severino is the best woodpusher for the Philippines. “Sa men’s partially blind, kita ang favorites,” said Henry.
Ernie Gawilan, another Dabawenyo, is expected to shine in swimming along with teammate Ariel Alegarbes. And the other athletes to watch are Jerrold Mangliwan in athletics and Adeline Dumapong in weightlifting.
In the last edition of the Para Games, the Philippines finished fifth overall with 28 golds, 30 silvers and 46 bronzes.
Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Commissioner and Chef-De-Mission Walter Torres hopes that they can improve their ranking this time.
If the Philippines moves from fifth to fourth overall, that would be great! That would depend of course on a better gold medal performance this year.
What makes this ASEAN Para Games more interesting is the participation of Esports para athletes. There will be no medals at stake because it is an exhibition event. The Philippines will be up against host Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
The Para Games have indeed come a long way with the inclusion of digital games.
Henry has not mentioned yet if there are Dabawenyos in the Egames event but I hope there is one or two because years ago, Davao has been a venue of digital games at the NCCC Mall in Matina, years before it was unfortunately destroyed by fire.
Anyway, we wish our Philippine para athletes success in Cambodia!
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