PALEMBANG - Time was not on the side of the Philippine national dragon boat team as it missed out on a podium finish in the 18th asian Games men's Canoe TBR (Traditional Boat Race) 1000m event on Monday at the Jakabaring Lake in Palembang. The Philippines finished in sixth place with a time of 4:43.641.
It was the third straight finals for the Filipinos in the last three days. They competed in the 200m followed by the 500m race, finishing in fifth place in both events.
The men's team failed to bring home a medal but three finals appearances may already be something to be proud of.
"Our players had a good performance. We were able to enter the finals," said coach Len Escollante. "This is historic in the Philippines that we were able to enter the finals in all the events."
In particular, Escollante and her squad are pleased to have bettered Myanmar, which has been a thorn on their side in previous competitions. In the semifinals, the Philippines clocked in 4:42.951, barely beating Myanmar which came in with a time of 4:43.055.
"That's a big deal," said Escollante on toppling Myanmar. "At least we saw the improvement of the boys."
"Of course they're a Southeast Asian team," echoed team captain Hermie Macaranas on the importance of getting past their potential SEA Games foe. "That's a very good result, we entered the finals and Myanmar didn't."
As of the moment, however, canoe traditional boat racing has yet to be formally included in the 2019 SEA Games. Escollante is hoping that the right parties will come to the right conclusion and they will be given a chance to participate in the Southeast Asian meet.
"We have a chance to host and a chance to participate in all the events," she implored. "We should give everyone a chance."
The team competition has come to a close for the Philippine dragon boat national team as the only event left is the Canoe Double 200m competitions on September 1. In the meantime, they shouldn't hang their heads after appearing in three straight finals.
"Whatever happened today, we'll be better. We won't stop until we become champions," said Macaranas.