Philippines to begin Asian Para Games campaign in three sports
The wheelchair basketball team faces South Korea first, while Lhey Marie Manginsay leads the table tennis squad in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Philippine athletes will begin competing in wheelchair basketball, table tennis and badminton at the 5th Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Chef-de-mission Francis Diaz said all 69 members of the athletic delegation had been accounted for, with a possible four to five gold medals being targeted.
South Korea, silver medallists at the 2023 Hangzhou Games, will be the Philippines’ first wheelchair basketball opponents at Aichi International Arena. The Philippine team also faces Iran, the Hangzhou bronze medallists, and Iraq in Group B. Each team will play the others once to establish the quarterfinal match-ups.
With eight teams entered, the Philippines is assured of improving on its ninth-place finish among 10 teams at its Asian Para Games debut in Hangzhou. The other group comprises Japan, the hosts and defending champions, China, Thailand and Kuwait. Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo expressed high hopes across the sports in which the country is competing.
Lhey Marie Manginsay, 23, will lead the table tennis squad at Sky Hall Toyota. She won ASEAN Para Games gold in Thailand in January and Asian Youth Para Games silver in Dubai late last year. Manginsay and taekwondo athlete Allain Ganapin will carry the Philippine flag at the opening ceremony.
The other table tennis players are Smith Billy Cartera, Leo Macalanda, Jan Wilfred Redulla, Noriko Arielle Batuhan and Jhona Pena. John Cyrus Maclang, Kathleen Pedrosa and Khian Kyle Urbano will compete in badminton at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.
