PHILIPPINE DRAGON BOAT TEAM GOES FOR 5TH GOLD MEDAL ON FINAL DAY OF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 07 Aug 2011
The Philippine Dragon Boat Federation team goes for its fifth gold medal on the final day of competition in the International Dragon Boat Federation World Championships in Tampa Bay, Florida.
The 'Dragon Warriors' won their fourth gold medal with a rousing triumph in the 500-meters mixed event in the small boat division beating back the challenge of powerhouse Hungary and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Filipinos established their credentials in the opening heat finishing first with a time of 2:28. In the second heat the Hungarians tried vainly to challenge the Dragon Warriors a challenge, but the Filipinos once again ended up in 1st place.
In the third and final heat, the Philippines reigned with what ABS-CBN?S Dyan Castillejo reported as ?precision paddling, they topped the race and took the gold medal while their opponents had nothing but praise for the Filipinos.?
Going into the final day of competition the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation team has bagged 4 gold and 2 silver medals.
Without any support from the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, the Dragon Boat Federation depended on the private sector to help defray the costs of travel and other expenses with Lucio Tan?s Philippine Airlines and Asia Brewery?s Cobra Energy Drink responding under the initiative of Mr.Michael Ngo.
Ngo said Cobra Energy Drink and Philippine Airlines ?are very proud of our country?s performance. We are pleased that the Cobra PDF team is garnering more golds than ever before and setting more world records. The Cobra team is happy to have collaborated with PAL and enabled the PDBF to prove that for numerous racing categories, the Philippines is the undisputed No. 1 team in the world.?
Joey de Guzman, PAL vice president for Corporate Communications said ?congratulations to the Philippine Dragon Boat team for raising the Philippine flag in Florida. The team?s victory is also the victory of the Filipino people and our flag carrier, Philippine Airlines. ?
One of the most gratifying aspects according to our paddlers and officials has been the daily crowd of Filipinos who came out in full force to support the Dragon Warriors. Others even traveled from other states just to cheer on the athletes
Castillejo told us that the Filipinos not only cheered for the Dragon Warriors, but also brought food .
The support of well-intentioned sponsors and the massive support provided by TV anchored by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN which sent Castillejo and a crew to cover the event and the Daily Inquirer which assigned a correspondent to cover the event won praise not only from the Dragon Boat Federation but also hundreds of Filipinos on the social network sites who lambasted the POC and the PSC for their lack of concern and support.
Philippine Amateur Track and Field president Go Teng Kok called on POC president Jose ?Peping? Cojuangco and PSC chairman Richie Garcia to resign out of delicadeza in the wake of the success of the Dragon Boat Team which they refused to support.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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