Special Assistant to the PATAFA president Reli de Leon, PATAFA Secretary-General Jasper Tanhueco and national coach Joeffrey Chua during the recent Philippine Sportswriters Association forum.
ICTSI-Phil. Athletics Championships back in Manila
THE Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) is bringing back top-level competition to Metro Manila when it holds the ICTSI-Philippine Athletics Championships scheduled from May 8-12 at the Philsports Track and Field Stadium (formerly Ultra)in Pasig City.
The event previously known as the Philippine National Open brings together the best homegrown and Fil-foreign athletes as well as athletes/teams from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, New Zealand and the United States since it was officially sanctioned by the World Athletics, offering qualifying points for this year’s Paris Olympics.
PATAFA Secretary-General Jasper Tanhueco said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum, “Except for EJ (Obiena), who has already qualified for the Olympics, our very own local talents and Fil-Heritage athletes are coming to strut their wares against foreign participants.”
Tanhueco was accompanied by Special Assistant to the PATAFA president (Terry Capistrano) Reli de Leon and national coach Joeffrey Chua.
All eyes are on Filipino Olympic hopefuls headed by Lauren Hoffman who recently established a new Philippine record in the Women’s 100-meter hurdles hoping to make it to Paris.
She will be joined in the five-day event by Asian champion Robyn Brown, and Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Eric Cray, Janry Ubas, Kristina Knott and Spain-based full-blooded Filipino John Cabang Tolentino.
For his part, De Leon said that the recent changes in the coaching staff is part of PATAFA’s effort to instill new minds and strategies. “So far wala pang masyadong impact ito sa mga atleta but sooner or later makikita natin ang improvement sa mga perormance,” said De Leon, also the Chairman of the Philippine Racing Commission.
“With bringing the action back to Manila we expect a bigger crowd and more records to be broken especially by the local athletes,” added De Leon.
Registration is still open, but around 700 athletes, including those from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand have already confirmed their participation.
The event is divided into three categories – Elite/Open Men and Women -20 years old and above (athletes born in the year 2004 and below), U20-Boys and Girls (athletes born in the years 2006 and 2005) and U-18 Boys and Girls (athletes born in the years 2007 and 2011).
The ICTSI-Philippine Athletics Championships is supported by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. Foundation, MILO Philippines, CEL Logistics Inc., Pocari Sweat Philippines, SIP Purified Water, Wireless Link Technologies Inc. (WLTI), United Auctioneers Inc., Masiv Sports, Victory Liner, AAI Worldwide Logistics, Inc and Filam Sports.
