MANILA, Philippines — Combat sports standout Chino Sy Tancontian is ready to do whatever it takes to step into the Olympic stage.
Shifting his focus from sambo to judo, 25-year-old Chino, son of Pilipinas Sambo president Paolo, is determined to accumulate enough points to qualify in his discipline.
“Of course, I want to take it head-on. It’s a huge responsibility to represent the Philippines in the Olympics, and hopefully I can qualify,” Paolo told The Manila Times.
“I will try to use my experience first in sambo, and going forward to qualifying for the Olympics.”
Chino has been dominating the mats as he is a five-time UAAP judo champion for the University of Santo Tomas (UST), and captured two gold medals in Sambo in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEA) and 2025 All Japan Sambo Championships.
His recent feat was a gold medal finish in judo in the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand.
Since sambo is not yet an Olympic sport, Chino believes its broad discipline offers significant benefits to multi-sport athletes.
“Every athlete's dream is to play and compete in the Olympic stage. Sambo is not yet an Olympic sport. Today, my focus is to qualify for Judo, and I will really work hard for it.”
“I will do whatever I can to step into that stage, and fulfill my dreams, and for my family, and this is also for the Philippines.”
Chino needs to accumulate enough points in the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Ranking List.
“I am new to everyone since I am from sambo. Also, my experience is not limited only to judo, since I played wrestling as well, and a little bit of jiu-jitsu. Same thing as my father said, sambo is a hybrid.”
“I think that against my opponents, I am a little different, and they will have a hard time against me. So, I will put up the fight, give them a hard time, and win, and do what it takes to qualify.”
Chino will compete in the 2026 Taipei Asian Open from July 11 to July 12.