PHL's Olympic gold medal possible in 2012

National boxing coach Roel Velasco is confident that the present crop of athletes discovered by the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) has a strong chance of winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics. Velasco, a bronze medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Games, said that brothers Rey (flyweight) and Vic Saludar (lightflyweight) are among the boxers that ABAP hopes may finally deliver the long-awaited Olympic gold. "The core of our national pool are young and determined in their quest to give honor for our country. I believe our first Olympic gold can come from this batch," said Velasco, who also mentioned Charly Suarez and Annie Albania as two other gold-medal prospects. "Bukod sa determinado, masunurin sa mga itinuturo ng kanilang coach, kaya naman nagiging successful sila. Wala pang ere sa katawan," he added. Rey, the elder of the Saludar brothers, said their quest for glory did not end in winning medals in the Asian Games. "And target po namin noong kami ay mapili sa national team ay ang makamit ang minimithing Olympic gold medal. Kaya ito ang pipilitin naming maabot hanggang kaya namin sa pamamagitan ng puspusang preparasyon," the 23-year-old Saludar said. Bowler Biboy Rivera and world billiards champion Dennis Orcollo supported the Guangzhou Asian Games gold medalist’s statement. Rivera, who won the singles gold in the recent Asiad, said that with the schedules of coaches finally settled, he can now prepare and train without any more interruption. "The Philippine Bowling Congress has allowed me to train exclusively with my personal coach, Madoka Amano, so wala nang sagabal sa ensayo ko. Nahirapan kasi ako nitong nakaraang taon dahil sa ensayo sa personal coach ko tapos ensayo na naman sa national team coach, kaya medyo naapektuhan ang laro ko," he said. For his part, Orcollo said that he will be competing in several international events as his preparation for the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia. "Ang unang paghahandaan namin ay ang World Pool Masters in Las Vegas later this year. Then I’ll also compete in several world-class tournaments in the US para paghandaan na rin ang SEA Games. – JVP/KY, GMANews.TV