After 14 years, the Philippines is a host again for the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, a multi-sport event involving all the countries in Southeast Asia.
This edition of SEA Games is the Philippines’ fourth time to host the said event. The Philippines first hosted the said event in 1981. Ten years later, the Philippines again hosted the SEA Games while the third time was in November 2005, which was participated by eleven (11) Southeast Asian nations.
This sporting competition is the first major decentralization in the history of the Games, as competition venues were spread in 23 cities across the country
The 11 members of the Southeast Asian Games Federation joined the 2019 SEA Games: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam.
There will be 56 sports, with an estimated 8,750 athletes and team officials; 2,050 technical officials, 1,500 press and media attendees; 12,000 volunteers; targeting more than 500 million viewers.
This is the highest number of sports played during the biennial contest, which featured six e-sports events like Dota 2, Starcraft II, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Arena of Valour, Tekken 7, and Hearthstone.
The sports are divided into three broader categories: “Compulsory Sports”, “Asian Games and Olympics Sports”, and “Regional and New Sports”.
Compulsory sports
Athletics Men: 10,000m, 100m, 110m hurdles, 1,500m, 200m, 20km walk, 3,000m steeplechase, 400m hurdles, 400m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, 5,000m run, 50km walk, 800m, decathlon, discus, hammer, high jump, javelin, long jump, marathon, pole vault, shot Put, triple jump
Women: 10,000m women, 100m hurdles, 100m, 1,500m, 200m, 20km walk, 3,000m steeplechase, 400m hurdles, 400m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, 5,000m, 800m, discus, hammer, heptathlon, high jump, javelin, long jump, marathon, pole vault, shot put, triple jump.
Aquatics Diving, open water swimming, swimming, water polo.
Olympic and Asian Games Sports
Team Sports Baseball, basketball, canoe kayak, football, handball (beach), ice hockey, indoor hockey, polo, rugby seven, softball, sepak takraw, traditional boat race, volleyball, beach volleyball.
Combat Sports Boxing, fencing, judo, karatedo, Muay Thai, Pencak Silat, taekwondo, wrestling, Wushu.
Individual Sports Archery, badminton, billiards, bowling, chess, cycling, dancesport, duathlon, golf, gymnastics, ice skating, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, skateboarding, shooting, soft tennis, squash, surfing, table tennis, tennis, triathlon, weightlifting, windsurfing.
Regional and New Sports
Team Sports E-sports, floorball, netball, underwater hockey.
Combat Sports Arnis, jiu-jitsu, kick-boxing, kurash, sambo.
Individual Sports Chess, lawn bowls, petanque, obstacle sports, wakeboarding.
As the host of the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, participating countries in the said event have shown their support.
Senator Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin of Malaysia was impressed after hearing the news from the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee and felt assured that he had nothing to worry about.
Harry Warganegara from Indonesia believes that hosting this year’s SEA Games can lead to even bigger hosting duties in the future.
Filipinos have shown their all-out support to the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee in such that at least 20,000 volunteers have shown their interest in helping the committee. Deputy Director for Volunteer Programs and former PBA star Chris Tiu has expressed his gratitude for the support or “bayanihan” being shown by the Filipinos.
The national anthem for this year’s Southeast Asian Games was sung by Lea Salonga and was composed by Ryan Cayabyab and Floy Quintos. One of the performers at the opening ceremony was Black Eyed Peas lead singer Apl De Ap.
The Philippines ranks 4th in the all-time Southeast Asian Games medal table, garnering a total of 3,351 (918 Gold, 1076 Silver, 1357 Bronze) over the course of SEA Games history.
Story by Patreece Abbygale Tan
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