Manila: The Philippines hopes to perform well in the 11th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships scheduled June 23 to 28 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. "All 21 members of the Pilipinas sambo team are now 85 percent ready with the tournament less than a month away. They all aim to excel and do the country proud," said national coach Ace Larida on Tuesday during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) forum at the PSC Media Center inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate, Manila.
According to Philippines News Agency, more than 600 athletes from 20 to 35 countries from Asia and Oceania are expected to join the event, sanctioned by the International Sambo Federation. "We were expecting only about 500 athletes, but even now we are more than 400 already, and more are still registering. We could wind up with over 500 entries from 31 countries if this trend continues," said Pilipinas Sambo Federation president Paolo Tancontian, who joined Larida in the forum.
Leading the country's campaign is World No. 1 Aislinn Agnes Yap, a gold medalist in the women's -80kg combat sambo division in last year's edition held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She also captured a bronze medal at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China. "We also have Joemarie Torres in the women's 50kg division, who is now ranked No. 7 in the world," said Larida.
Among the medal hopefuls on the men's side are Jason Palmes and Jarred Pamor in the 58kg sport sambo class, Godwin Langbayan in the 66kg combat sambo, Vincent Navares in the -71kg sport sambo, and Angelo Salla in the 71kg combat sambo. The participation of Tancontian's celebrated daughter Sydney Sy, a gold medalist in the women's +80kg in the 10th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships in 2025, has yet to be decided.
"Sydney had to look after me when I became sick and also had to take over some of my responsibilities in organizing the tournament," said Tancontian, who just recovered from sickbay a few days ago. "We cannot make a mistake in our hosting because - who knows - in two to three years' time, we might have the opportunity to host the world championships," he said. "Anyway, whether my daughter competes or not, we have many 'secret weapon' sambo athletes who can win for the country."
