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Despite uncertainties, Araneta still upbeat of PH's chances in Tokyo

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA, Philippines -- The country&#x27;s chef de mission to the Tokyo Olympics remains confident of the Filipino athletes&#x27; chances in the upcoming Summer Games, despite the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.The Tokyo Olympics were postponed last year due to the global health crisis and rescheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 this year instead. There remains plenty of questions regarding the event, however, even as organizers assured that the Games will be safe. According to a report by Reuters, a majority of the Japanese are still opposed to holding the Olympics.Mariano &quot;Nonong&quot; Araneta, the Philippines&#x27; chef de mission, said that all signs point to the Games pushing through in July.&quot;Latest is, tuloy talaga,&quot; Araneta, also the head of the country&#x27;s football federation, said on &quot;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Radyo5PH/videos/1082656765540090">Power and Play</a>&quot; this week.&quot;We&#x27;ll be having a briefing on Tuesday, lahat ng mga CDM. And they came up with a playbook for officers… Those are guidelines for the officials,&quot; he added.So far, four Filipino athletes have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics -- boxers Irish Magno and Eumir Marcial, gymnast Caloy Yulo, and pole-vaulter EJ Obiena. Several others are on the brink of qualification, including weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, golfers Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan, and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.Araneta is confident that other Filipino athletes will also secure their tickets to the Games upon the resumption of qualifying events.&quot;Marami pa rin ang nagta-try to qualify,&quot; he said, noting that several boxers -- including world champion Nesthy Petecio -- are at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna for a training camp.&quot;Andiyan pa rin sila who have good chances of qualifying. Andiyan sila ngayon sa bubble sa Inspire. We have the boxers, we have taekwondo, and we have karate,&quot; he added.Filipino sports officials -- including Araneta himself -- have previously expressed their hope that the country can finally grab a golden breakthrough in the Games this year. In the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, Diaz became a household name by winning silver in weightlifting. Araneta is confident that the Filipino athletes have a great opportunity to reach the top of the podium in Tokyo, especially as they have continued to train despite the pandemic.&quot;Of course, there&#x27;s Caloy Yulo, who&#x27;s up to now, still training in Japan. Hindi naman naantala &#x27;yung training niya, so that&#x27;s a plus-factor for Caloy,&quot; he said. &quot;Si Eumir now is in California. He&#x27;s training there also. Actually he had a professional fight, so tuloy-tuloy ang training niya, hindi naantala.&quot;&quot;EJ also is training in Italy, he&#x27;s in the Top 5 of sa pole vault. Ito, si Hidilyn is also training in Malaysia. &#x27;Yun ang mga Olympic medalist natin na hopefuls, na malaki ang tsansa,&quot; he added.&quot;And, of course, Yuka and Bianca, who are in the thick of the fight sa golf. &#x27;Yung kanilang tandem which has proven na maganda naman ang tandem nila. Sa Asian Games, nag-gold sila, so hopefully sa Olympics, may chance sila.&quot;Of bigger concern are the athletes whose training programs were severely impacted by the pandemic. These include the boxers, karatekas, and taekwondo jins who are currently in the Inspire facility, gearing up for their respective qualifiers.&quot;Nevertheless, yung mga athletes eh, bigay naman sila lahat,&quot; Araneta assured. &quot;Talaga lang nangangati na para mag-compete.&quot;<div>Related video: </div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KRwIKZdywWI?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The country's chef-de-mission to the Tokyo Olympics remains confident of the Filipino athletes' chances in the upcoming Summer Games.

The country's chef-de-mission to the Tokyo Olympics remains confident of the Filipino athletes' chances in the upcoming Summer Games.

Despite uncertainties, Araneta still upbeat of PH's chances in Tokyo

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Despite uncertainties, Araneta still upbeat of PH's chances in Tokyo

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 08, 2021 04:56 PM PHT

Read More:

Tokyo Olympics

Olympic Games

2020 Tokyo Olympics

Team Philippines

Inspire Sports Academy

Nonong Araneta

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