30 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY September 1 - 15 , 2017

In aftermath of Philippine SEAG performance

Bring home more medals and get more support from government .

Philippine Sports Commission chairman William Ramirez sent this message to the different national sports associations ( NSAs ) yesterday in the aftermath of yet another disappointing finish in the Southeast Asian Games .

The PSC funded a total of 493 athletes to the 29th SEA Games in Malaysia , competing in 37 of the 38 sports on tap , and brought home 24 gold , 33 silver and 64 bronze medals for sixth place overall .

The 24 golds were far from the 50 which sports officials projected prior to the Games , and the final haul was less than the 29-36-66

Wesley So held Francisco Pons to a 29- move draw of a Sicilian to clinch a 1.5-0.5 win and advance to the Final 16 of the 2017 FIDE World Cup in Tbilisi , Georgia Sunday night .

After beating the Spaniard with a 30-move win of a Caro-kann Saturday , So deliberately went for a of the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore .

The Philippines won medals in 29 disciplines . While some delivered more than what was expected of them , others simply failed to live up to expectations , despite full support from government .

Ramirez said from now on , things will change .

“ The support which the NSAs will receive will be based on performance ,” said Ramirez , who as chief of the government sports agency has had the chance to observe how other countries run their sports program .

“ In other countries such as China , United Kingdom , South Korea and the United States , monetary support is based on performance . They strictly follow the rule of no performance , no funding ,’’

series of exchanges to force the match-clinching draw .

So , who disposed of Colombian Joshua Castillo and German Matthias Bluebaum in the first two rounds , will next face the winner of the Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia-Baadur Jobava of Georgia showdown in the next round . The two split said Ramirez .

The PSC chief said the NSAs will have to bite the bullet that their performance in international competitions will dictate the amount of support they will receive .

Ramirez , however , stressed that the PSC will not let non-performing sports starve to death .

“ We will continue to support them . But they cannot expect to receive as much as the performing NSAs will get ,” said Ramirez .

The educator from Davao City did not identify the sports that will be most affected by this approach . But the medal tally of the Philippine participation in the recent SEA Games will not lie .

It will be quite easy to identify which sports delivered the goods , from athletics , boxing , billiards ,

their two matches for a 1-1 deadlock .

Nepomniachtchi and Jobava were playing playoff games at press time .

So , seeded second in this event that drew 128 players , emerged the highest ranked player after top seed and reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen got booted out following

gymnastics , triathlon , judo , taekwondo , ice hockey and basketball , to those who did not , from aquatics , archery , bowling , golf or shooting , among others .

“ We studied the performances and expenditures of every sports association the past 10 years and the PSC board will decide

a shock defeat to Chinese Bu Xiangzhi , 0.5-1.5 . ( J . on the amount that the NSAs will receive based on the data that we ’ ve gathered ,’’ Ramirez said .

“ We ’ ve decided that it will be performance-based but not absolute . We will still help those NSAs that underperformed in previous tournaments ,’’ he said .( A . Codero , PS )

Villar PS )

ASIDE from their bonuses under Republic Act 10699 , or the new incentives law , Southeast Asian Games medalists were pleasantly surprised yesterday to receive additional incentives from Presidential Adviser for Sports Dennis Uy during awarding rites in Malacanang .

To sweeten the pot , Uy , who heads the Siklab Atleta Pilipinas Sports Foundation , decided to give P50,000 to the gold medalists , P30,000 to the silver medalists and P10,000 to the bronze medalists in last month ’ s regional sportsfest staged in Malaysia .

The Siklab Altleta Pilipinas Sports Foundation , whose executive director is former pro league commissioner Chito Salud , has solicited private sponsors to fund and train promising individual

athletes who loom as gold medal prospects in the 2020 Olympic Games .

President Duterte awarded a total of P18,037,500 in bonuses to the PH standard-bearers , who returned home with 24 gold , 33 silver and 64 bronze medals from Kuala Lumpur .

Among the topnotchers were Fil-Am track field bets Trenten Beram and Eric Shawn Cray , who netted P660,000 and P510,000 , respectively , for their exploits in the 11-nation biennial meet .

Getting P450,000 apiece were fellow US-based athletes Kaitlyn de Guzman of gymnastics and equestrian rider John Collins Syquia .

Gymnast Reyland Capellan , who won a gold and a silver , took home P360,000 , the same amount that SEA Games decathlete king Aries Toledo got for also being a member of the bronze-medal winning 4x400-meter relay squad .

Coaches of the medalists were also

Rosario , who left with the team , is eyeing to match if not surpass the tally of one gold and two bronze medals the Nationals won the last time the meet was held four years ago in Incheon , South Korea . ( Bong Pedralvez , MALAYA )