Camille Naredo

"Yaya," the mascot of the 6th Asian Beach Games, welcomes delegates at core areas in all venues of the competitions. POC Media 


"Yaya," the mascot of the 6th Asian Beach Games, welcomes delegates at core areas in all venues of the competitions.

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Asian Beach Games

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1776757389775sanya_poc media pool (1).png" style="width:960px;display:block" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="&quot;Yaya,&quot; the mascot of the 6th Asian Beach Games, welcomes delegates at core areas in all venues of the competitions. POC Media &quot;Yaya,&quot; the mascot of the 6th Asian Beach Games, welcomes delegates at core areas in all venues of the competitions. POC Media"/>&quot;Yaya,&quot; the mascot of the 6th Asian Beach Games, welcomes delegates at core areas in all venues of the competitions. POC Media</div>MANILA -- Filipino athletes are in a &quot;bright and sunny&quot; mood, a day before the opening ceremonies of the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China.This, according to chef de mission Don Caringal, who noted that the team&#x27;s spirits were lifted by a triumphant start to the competitions.The men&#x27;s handball team clobbered Hong Kong, 20-18, 28-16, to kick off its campaign on Tuesday.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/4/19/team-ph-heads-to-sanya-for-asian-beach-games-1908">READ: Team PH heads to Sanya for Asian Beach Games</a></div>&quot;It&#x27;s a good sign. We won our first game and now we&#x27;re looking at also the other venues here—beach volleyball and sports climbing. It&#x27;s a good day for Team Philippines,&quot; Caringal said.Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham &quot;Bambol&quot; Tolentino said the Philippine delegation to Sanya is a &quot;fighting team,&quot; with the 101 athletes looking to win &quot;as many medals as possible.&quot;For the POC chief, there are two goals in mind in Sanya, with the country&#x27;s hosting in 2028 on the horizon.&quot;These games also serve as a benchmark for us, particularly Cebu, when we host in 2028,&quot; he said. &quot;This will be a jumping board for our athletes and for the country to emerge as the best host ever.&quot;&quot;In terms of performance we can&#x27;t say, but of course, we&#x27;re always hoping for the best especially for our mixed martial arts bets and of course our handball teams, they&#x27;re good,&quot; Caringal said, for his part.Two-time jujitsu world champion Annie Ramirez will be the flagbearer alongside Yman Xavier Baluyo during the parade of athletes at the Tianya Haijiao Ring Theater at the Yasha Park Phase 1 on Wednesday.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/4/17/annie-ramirez-relishes-opportunity-as-ph-flag-bearer-for-asian-beach-games-2212">READ: Annie Ramirez relishes opportunity as PH flag-bearer for Asian Beach Games</a></div>Team Philippines&#x27; participation in the games is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission headed by John Patrick &quot;Pato&quot; Gregorio,.&quot;Our preparation led by the POC and of course our President Bambol Tolentino made sure that we have very good contingent here,&quot; Caringal said. &quot;It&#x27;s a big boost for our athletes. In fact, the ABG was postponed for a long time. It just so happened that the OCA decided to push through with it again.&quot;It&#x27;s good because it will continue for the next edition. We&#x27;re lucky we&#x27;re able to get the hosting job.&quot;Besides Ramirez, the Pinoy bets are also set to do battle in 3x3 basketball, open water swimming and water polo, aquathlon, beach athletics, beach handball, beach kabaddi, beach soccer, beach volleyball, beach wrestling, dragon boat, sailing, sport climbing and teqball.Also among the medal prospects are another jujitsu standout, Kaila Napolis, and the women&#x27;s beach volleyball side of Thailand Southeast Asian Games gold winner Sunny Villapando who will link up this time with Sofiah Pagara, Khyle Progella and Grydelle Matibag.The basketball 3x3 quartets and triathlon&#x27;s Raven Alcoseba and Erika Burgos in the women&#x27;s side and the men&#x27;s trio of Andrew Remolino, Inaki Lorbes and Matthew Hermosa are out to prove they&#x27;re no pushovers.The Philippines have so far won five gold, 10 silver and 35 bronze medals in the ABG that opened shop in 2008 in Bali, followed by the 2010 battle in Oman, 2012 in Haiyang (China) and 2014 in Phuket.

Filipino athletes are in a "bright and sunny" mood, a day before the opening ceremonies of the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China.

Filipino athletes are in a "bright and sunny" mood, a day before the opening ceremonies of the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China.

Pinoy athletes in 'bright and sunny' mood ahead of Beach Games opening

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Pinoy athletes in 'bright and sunny' mood ahead of Beach Games opening

ABS-CBN News

Published April 21, 2026 03:47 PM PHT

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Asian Beach Games

Team Philippines

Philippine Olympic Committee

Sanya

China

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