JAKARTA — Seven golfers, led by Rupert Zaragosa, will carry the fight for Team Philippines in the 18th Asian Games here.
Also in the men’s team are University of California incoming freshman Luis Castro, University of Virginia’s Weiwei Gao, and Li Go.
The women’s team is composed of former world junior champion Yuka Saso, recent Kuala Lumpur Amateur Championship winner Lois Kaye Go and Bianca Pagdanganan, a member of the US NCAA champion University of Arizona.
Four gold medals — men’s and women’s individual events, and men’s and women’s team events — are at stake in the golf competition scheduled on Aug. 23-26 at the Pondok Indah Golf Course, which was the venue of the 1993 World Cup.
National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) executive director Boom Coscolluela has expressed optimism on the chances of the Filipino athletes, who trained under 2002 Philippine Open champion Rick Gibson of Canada.
The Philippines won its only gold in the Asian Games, courtesy of Ramon Brobio in Seoul, South Korea in 1986. Brobio bagged the bronze in the 1990 edition held in Beijing, China.
In 1998, Gerald Rosales picked up the silver in Bangkok, Thailand while Michael Bibat took the bronze during the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Miguel Tabuena pocketed the silver medal in Guangzhou, China in 2010.
Brobio led the men’s team to a silver in Beijing (1990) and a bronze in Seoul (1986), while Rosales also steered the team to a silver finish in Bangkok (1998).
In the women’s division, Jamille Jose won the bronze in 1990 while the team clinched the bronze in 1990, 1998, and 2002 (Busan, South Korea).
The gold winners during the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea were Chinese Taipei’s Pan Cheng-tsung (men’s individual event), Chinese Taipei (men’s team event), Park Gyeol (women’s individual event), and Thailand (women’s team event).
Meanwhile, Jordan Clarkson, the Filipino-American playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association, will have the honor of carrying the Philippine flag during the parade of athletes and officials in the opening ceremony at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Saturday. (Jean Malanum/PNA)
