MANILA -- Sportsman and philantrophist, Alvin Tan Lian, has lifted the spirit of the Filipino athletes joining the 29th edition of the Summer Universiade that will be held in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei on August 19-30.
Tan Lian, who chairs the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP) and head of the Philippine delegation to the Universiade, met the Universiade-bound athletes during a get-together on Friday night.
“I wish all of you the best of luck in the coming Universiade. Be ambassadors of goodwill as you compete for the glory of the country,” he said in a statement released by the FESSAP to the media on Tuesday.
Tan Lian said the Philippines has a good medal potential in billiards, golf and wushu.
Aside from badminton, billiards, golf and wushu, the Philippines will also compete in archery, athletics, diving, judo, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, lawn tennis, and weightlifting.
Businessman Angel Ngu, honorary president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FFCCCI), will serve as flag bearer and lead the Philippine delegation during the opening ceremony on August 19.
The Philippines has competed in the three previous editions of the Universiade in Shenzen, China (2011); Kazan, Russia (2013); and Gwangju, Korea (2015). In 2011, Samuel Thomas Harper Morrison won a silver in taekwondo while Grandmaster Wesley So pocketed the gold in chess in Kazan. In 2015, Filipino-American golfer Lloyd Jefferson Go of Seton Hall University placed seventh.
FESSAP is a regular member of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), which organizes the Summer Universiade, considered the Olympics of student-athletes. (PNA)
