136 PH athletes to join Asian Youth Games 2025 in Bahrain

By Jean Malanum, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – The Philippines will send 136 athletes to the 3rd Asian Youth Games set Oct. 22 to 31 in Manama, Bahrain.

“We’ll field a compact team of promising athletes who are all potentially our future Olympic, world and regional champions,” Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said Tuesday.

Ramon “Tats” Suzara, president of both the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) and Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC), will serve as chef de mission of Team Philippines.

Promising boxer Leo Mhar Lobrido and young volleyball star Harlyn Serneche are the flag-bearers in the parade of countries during the opening ceremony at the Exhibition World Bahrain.

Tolentino said the target is to match or surpass the two gold medals won by taekwondo’s Pauline Lopez and golfer Mia Legaspi, and three silver medals the country won in the 2013 edition held in Nanjing, China.

“We believe somebody from our 136 athletes will rise to the occasion to make a name for himself or herself. Opportunities are always there for us, and we believe our athletes will do whatever it takes to win,” Tolentino added.

Lobrido, who turns 16 on Oct. 10, won gold in the boys’ 46-48kgs division of the fourth Greater Bay Area Youth Boxing Challenge last December in Shenzhen City in China.

Serneche, on the other hand, plays for Nazareth High School of the National University.

The Asian Youth Games, a tournament for athletes 14 to 17 years old, features 23 sports but the Filipino athletes will only join in 16 (volleyball, teqball, golf, triathlon, mixed martial arts, taekwondo, Muay Thai, athletics, boxing, cycling, weightlifting, table tennis, badminton, wrestling, aquatics, and jiu-jitsu).

A total of 4,000 athletes from 45 Asian nations are expected to participate in 223 events.