WITH two days to go, the Gymnastics of Association of the Philippines is primed and ready to step up for the 10th Aerobic Gymnastics Asian Championships presented by the Philippine Sports Commission starting Wednesday at the Tagaytay CT Veldrome in Tagaytay City.
“We set the bar high in staging last year’s world championships so we won’t be satisfied with nothing than matching if not surpassing that for this forthcoming competition,” stressed Gymnastics Association Philippines president Cynthia Carrion.
“This is the first Asian gymnastics meet in the country in a long while so we want to put our best foot forward for all the participants who are coming over to Tagaytay for this tournament,” added Carrion, known as a stickler for detail and excellence.
She took pride that the GAP-organized competition sanctioned by the Asian Gymnastics Union will be held in a unique arena — the modified Tagaytay CT Velodrome — amid a cool and picturesque environment in the scenic city overlooking the Taal Lake.
Played to vibrant music and based on common dynamic aerobic moves, the tournament has drawn the cream of junior and senior aerobic gymnasts from the countries of Cambodia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and host Philippines.
There will be men’s and women’s divisions in the senior (18 year-old and above), junior (15 to 17 years old) and youth (12 to 14 years old) categories in the meet that is supported by Taal Vista Hotel and Summit Ridge Tagaytay as official hotel partners.
Up for grabs are medals in the men’s and women’s individual class, mixed pair, trio, group, aerobic dance and aerobic steps events.
Keen competition is expected in the senior division since some countries such as India will use the meet as a major criteria for its national team selection for the 19th Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships slated Sept. 11 to 13 in Pamplona, Spain.
Spearheading the local challenge is the seasoned duo of Arcenio Cadios and Charmaine Dolar, who captured the silver medal in the mixed pair event In last year’s 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
