Vietnam lessens number of events for 31st SEAG

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

Even the 31st Southeast Asian Games felt the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic after host country Vietnam decided to slash the 56 events to just 36 due to cost-cutting measures.

The Vietnamese SEAG committee tried their best to maintain what the past host country (Philippines) had but the remaining funds will just be enough for the 36 events.

Included in the list of sports are aerobics, archery, badminton, weightlifting, wrestling, wushu, vovinam, volleyball, bodybuilding, boxing, basketball, billiards, canoe-kayak, chess, cycling, dancesport, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, judo karate, kurash, kickboxing, muay thai, pencak silat, petanque, rowing, sepak takraw, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, and tennis.

Mandatory events such as the athletics and aquatics will be retained and will still be one of the highlights just like in the past SEAG events.

Meanwhile, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Bambol Tolentino said that he will try to convince the committee that arnis, triathlon, sambo, and obstacle course be added to the 31st SEAG.

“We will lobby for those events that we’re strong at but were not there like arnis, triathlon. Other nations may lobby for sambo, so I might include in the appeal for an obstacle course,” Tolentino said.