THE Philippines will be sending a lean but mean delegation to the 26th Summer Universiade, which will include a basketball squad led by the University of Cebu Webmasters.
The Universiade is a biennial event featuring the best collegiate athletes from all over the world. This marks the first time that the Philippines will be taking part in the event to be held in Shenzhen, China this August.
The Philippines will see action in eight sports disciplines, according to the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP), the only local university sports organization that is officially recognized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), organizer of the Universiade and World University Games.
These include swimming, men’s basketball, table tennis, badminton, chess, archery, beach volleyball and athletics.
However, the spotlight will be on the basketball squad that will be sent to China, the core of which will be comprised of the Webmasters led by 6-foot-10 center, Junemar Fajardo. The composition of that team will be revealed in a press conference this Saturday with BAP president, Senator Antonio Trillanes.
The Sugbu squad is bracketed in pool C along with powerhouse squads Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Japan and New Zealand. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio