PH eyes participation in 1st Winter Children of Asia Games next year

Philippine Olympic Committee deputy secretary general Karen Tanchanco-Caballero speaking during the 1st Winter Children of Asia Games Chefs de Mission seminar in Russia. (PNA photo)

MANILA — The Philippines is eyeing to join the 1st Winter Children of Asia Games which will be held in Russia next year.

According to Philippine Olympic Committee deputy secretary general Karen Tanchanco-Caballero, the Philippines may send entries in two of the eight sports calendared in the tournament slated February 8 to 17 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, which is a city on Sakhalin Island, in eastern Russia.

The 1st Winter Children of Asia Games, which is sanctioned by the Olympic Council of Asia, will feature biathlon, ice hockey, figure skating, ski jumping, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and short track.

The participants are children 16 years old and below.

“I will present it to POC president Ricky Vargas and then to the General Assembly, which will determine if we will compete in ice hockey and figure skating,” said Tanchanco-Caballero in an interview on Tuesday.

Tanchanco-Caballero, who heads the Philippine Amateur Sepak Takraw Association, has returned to the country on Saturday night after attending the 1st Winter Children of Asia Games Chiefs de Mission (CDM) seminar from March 20 to 24.

The delegates — vice presidents, secretary generals, senior members and chefs de missions of National Olympic Committees and sport ministries from Afghanistan, Armenia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Turkmenistan and host Russia — visited the different competition venues and training grounds as well as the accommodation venues of the athletes.

“We were all impressed. There are ongoing constructions in some of the venues, but the rest are ready for use,” said Tanchanco-Caballero, who also served as chef de mission of the Philippine delegation during the 2016 Asian Games in Da Nang, Vietnam.

During the seminar, the Games local organizing committee has informed the delegates that accommodation, meals and local transportation will be provided by the host, while the participating teams will shoulder their own airfare and insurance.

The delegates also had the chance to meet with Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of Sakhalin Region, and Dmitry Glushko, the president of the Children of Asia Games International Committee.

They joined Sakhalin regional government officials headed by Vice Prime Minister Anton Zaitsev in starting the countdown clock to the Opening Ceremony of the Games on the town central square on March 23.

Tanchanco-Caballero’s election last year as vice president of the Asian Sepak Takraw Federation has made her the first woman vice president for the Continental Sports Federation of Sepak Takraw.

Sepak takraw has produced the Philippines’ first medal in the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year after the men’s team of Alvin Pangan, Emmanuel Escote, Joeart Jumawan, John Carlo Lee, John Jefrey Morcillos, John John Bobier, Regie Reznan Pabriga, Rhemwil Catana and Ronsited Gabayeron won the silver medal in the Men’s Chinlone-Linking event.