Pinoy wrestlers start preparing for 2014 Asiad

SEVEN Filipino wrestlers have been tapped to train for free in Incheon, South Korea in preparation for the 2014 Asian Games.

Secretary general Karlo Sevilla of the Wrestling Association of the Philippines said the national grapplers would stay for a month (Oct.26-Nov.27) in the Asian Games host city, hoping to learn new tricks from the Koreans.

A rising Asian power on the mat, the Koreans are particularly skillful in greco roman wrestling. Kim Hyeon-woo nailed South Korea’s first Olympic gold medal in the sport during the London Olympics.

Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Margarito Angana and Jason Balabal lead the cast of wrestlers bound for Incheon who were picked as beneficiaries of the 2014 Asian Games Vison Project of South Korea.

Grappler Michael Baletin, Joseph Angana, Rosegyn Malabja and Kristine Jambora, Joshua Gayuchan and Alvin Lobreguito will also join the group, which will receive a new set of equipment worth P500,000 from the organizers.

“It’s a short one-month free training that we are very grateful for. What is most important, especially for our young athletes, is to learn the values that make the South Korean wrestling team one of the world’s best,” Sevilla told the Inquirer.

Most of the grapplers scheduled to train in Incheon are developmental wrestlers with 16-year-olds Jambora, Malabja and Gayuchan still in high school. Joseph Angana and Lobrequito are both 20 years old.

According to Sevilla, the organizers have sent invites to other countries to avail of the games’ training facilities for free and establish a better relationship with other Asian nations through sports.  /inquirer