Taekwondo’s Monsour Del Rosario and karate’s Raymund Lee Reyes were tasked by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to lead the country’s campaign in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games slated September in Ashgabat,Turkmenistan.
Del Rosario was appointed Chief of Mission and Reyes as deputy. They will lead the formation and preparation of the Philippine national team that will compete in 21 sports disciplines.
There will be 45 countries competing for honors in chess, bowling, dancesport, muay thai, taekwondo, tennis, weightlifting, 3-on-3 basketball, cycling (track), equestrian (jumping), wrestling, billiards, kickboxing, jiujitsu, kuresh, athletics (indoor), football (futsal), aquatics (short course swimming), belt wrestling, sambo and traditional wrestling.
“WE are very honored to be part of this campaign. We are a hardworking team and we will leave no stone unturned in making sure that will have be able to make our country proud in this competition,” said Reyes, secretary-general of the Philippine Karatedo Federation.
Reyes has been providing able support to PKF president Joey Romasanta in spreading the popularity of the sport in the country as well as product elite athletes that will carry the national colors in international competition.
Del Rosario, a former Asian champion and Olympian in taekwondo, is a representative of the first district of Makati City and a very active official of the Philippine Olympic Association.
He was two-time Southeast Asian Games champion and bronze medalist in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and reached the quarterfinals of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.