KUALA LUMPUR—The Philippines’ differently-abled athletes arrived here on Wednesday with high hopes of snatching at least 27 gold medals in the Ninth ASEAN Para Games set to kick off on Sunday at the Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex.
Expected to lead the country’s campaign are chess players MIndandro Ridor, the country’s flag-bearer who emerged the best performing Filipino with four gold medals in the last Para Games in Singapore two years ago.
Also expected to shine are Josephine Medina in table tennis and Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta in powerlifting.
Chief of mission Ral Rosario, who flew Tuesday to attend the delegation head meeting, said the team has a chance to win 27 golds, four more than the haul in the 29th Southeast Asian Games also hosted by Malaysia two weeks ago.
Ridor is seeking to sweep the visually impaired 2 division (partial blindness) anew while wheelchair-bound Sander Severino, a FIDE Master, and Henry Lopez try to add more mints as they try to match their target of at least seven gold medals in chess alone.
Medina, 47, is aiming to ride the momentum of her bronze medal finish in last year’s Paralympics in Rio de Janerio and add to her six-gold medal collection in the biennial event.
“It will not be easy but I can assure our country I will give it my best to win the gold,” said Medina, who set her best effort in the Games in 2008 in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, with four gold medals.
For Dumapong, who delivered the country’s first medal in the Paralympics with a bronze in Sydney, 17 years ago, said she hopes to maximize her last few opportunities before she retires a few years from now.
“I was told by my coaches that I can still compete at this high level for four or five more years,” said the 43-year-old Dumapong, who has four Asean gold and two silver medals and two silver medals in the Asian Para Games.
Filipino athletes are competing in athletics (nine), badminton (seven), boccia (three), chess (17), cycling (three), goal ball (six), powerlifting (five), table tennis (nine), swimming (10), tenpin bowling (15) and wheelchair basketball (12).
The Philippines will be up against host Malaysia (331 athletes), powerhouse Thailand (291), Indonesia (192), Vietnam (150) and Myanmar (120). The other participants are Singapore (92), Cambodia (70), Lao PDR (50), Brunei Darussalam (27) and East Timor (14).