Team Philippines celebrates.
Well done
PUERTO PRINCESA City – Well done for host Philippines.
The Philippines capped another memorable campaign by bagging two more gold medals and winning the overall title in the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships at the Puerto Princesa Baywalk here Sunday.
Inspired by an adoring hometown crowd in search for new sports heroes, the Filipino paddlers added two golds, four silvers and one bronze medal to finish with an overall record of 11 golds, 20 silvers and 16 bronzes.
That was enough to clinch the overall championship in the prestigious competition organized by the Philippine Canoe Kayak and Dragon Boat Federation (PCKDF) and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Tingog party-list.
“We practically made history every day so I am very proud of our national paddlers and how we organized this big event sanctioned by the International Canoe Federation,” said PCKDF president Leonora Escollante.
“So I am very glad that our staging of this world championships yielded the main goal that our national team was aiming for by clinching the overall title right here on our shores at that” added Escollante.
ICF Dragon Boat Commission chairman Dr. Wai Hung-Luk of Hongkong lauded the organizers and local and foreign participants.
“This was truly a world-class you have in Puerto Princesa and all we got was positive feedback from the countries who took part in the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships,” said Dr. Wai.
“The participants were also impressed by the warm hospitality shown by the Pawaneños and expressed their desire to come back again here,” he said.
On another calm and sunny day in this beautful island province, the Filipinos struck hard with victories in the masters mixed 20-seater standard boat 500-meter race and 40+ 20-seater women’s 2,000-meter standard boat event.
Southeast Asian heavyweight Thailand settled for runner-up honors with eight golds while the AIN ( Individual Neutral Athlete) squad took third place with six golds, three silvers and three bronzes.
The Philippines clocked two minutes and 6.34 seconds in the masters mixed 20-seater standard boat 500-meter race.
Singapore settled for second with 2:06.73 while Germany took third place with a time of 2:07.98.
The Filipinos were also runaway winners in the 40+ 20-seater women’s 2,000-meter standard boat event (10:42.31) over runner-up Canada (10:48.64) while had silvers in the 20-seater mixed standard boat 500-meter (1:58.13), 40+ 10-seater mixed 500-meter (2:19.45), 20-seater open (9:23.16) and 40+ 20-seater open 5,000-meter (9:34.47) races.
But the 20-seater mixed standard 500-meters was most thrilling by far among the contests as the hosts virtually led from start to finish until they were beaten in the last 10 meters by the hard-charging Ukrainians, who snatched the gold in a time of 1:57.51.
They also bagged a bronze in the 40+ 10-seater open 500-meter (2:15.93) event in the four-day tournament also supported by the Puerto Princesa City government led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron, the PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), and Lacoste watches.
The next staging of the biennial global dragon boat competition will be held in Regina, Canada in 2026.
