Chan also shared that some members of the Philippine kickboxing team will also compete in vovinam, which will make a SEA Games return after nine years.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 19) – Familiar names in the mixed martial arts scene form part of the 12-strong Philippine kickboxing team seeking glory in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam next month.
Former ONE featherweight champion Honorio Banario and 2019 SEA Games gold medalists Jean Claude Saclag and Gina Iniong are some of the names in the national team lineup, according to Samahang Kickboxing ng Pilipinas secretary-general Wharton Chan in an interview with CNN Philippines.
Banario, who will compete in the 71kg division, was the first Igorot to win a world MMA title when he beat compatriot Eric Kelly in 2013.
In Vietnam, Saclag is expected to defend his title in the men’s 55kg low kick division, while Iniong will scale up the heights in the women’s 60kg division – five kilograms heavier than when she won the gold in the 2019 SEA Games.
Saclag is a former world wushu champion and Iniong forayed into Singapore-based MMA organization ONE Championship as an atomweight contender.
Other Team Lakay standouts in the Mark Sangiao-mentored Philippine kickboxing team are 2019 SEA Games silver medalists Jomar Balangui (57kg) and Renalyn Daquel (48kg), Carlos Alvarez (67kg), Zephania Ngaya (65kg), Kurt Lubrica (54kg), and Claudine Veloso (52kg).
Gretel Dela Paz (56kg), Emmanuel Cantores (60kg), and young standout Daryl Chulipas (51kg) complete the Filipino kickboxers who are in a training bubble in Benguet for their Vietnam SEA Games campaign.
The Philippine kickboxing team clinched three golds, two silvers, and one bronze in the 2019 Manila SEA Games held at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Vovinam is a Vietnamese martial art that combines wrestling and self-defense techniques. Usually, vovinam has two categories: combat and technique combination.
Iniong and Ngaya will have a double duty for the country as they form the women’s vovinam combat team together with ONE Championship rising standout and 2019 SEA Games silver medalist Jenelyn Olsim.
Team Lakay sensation Danny Kingad leads the men’s squad along with Carlo Buminaang and Renato Cha Jr.
The 31st SEA Games kickboxing competition will be held from May 6-11, while the vovinam tournament is slated from May 18-22.
