10th Aero Gymnastics Asian meet ready to go in Tagaytay - Carrion

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 Velodrome in Tagaytay City.

Cynthia Carrion, president of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines, emphasized that they set a high standard when staging last year's world championships. Consequently, they will accept nothing less than matching or exceeding that standard for the upcoming competition.

“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 in the fact that the Asian Gymnastics Union sanctioned the GAP-organized competition, which will take place in a unique arena—the modified Tagaytay CT Velodrome—in the scenic city overlooking Taal Lake, surrounded by a cool and picturesque environment.

“Given the location of our championships, our athletes, coaches and officials are in for a pleasant surprise given how we transformed an indoor cycling oval into a cool-looking aerobic gymnastics arena,” Carrion noted

She thanked Philippine Olympic Committee president and former Tagaytay Mayor Bambol Tolentino, present Mayor Brent Tolentino and Vice Mayor Agnes Tolentino for making this all possible despite the limited time for preparations.

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, Chinese-Taipei, 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.

Given the hometown edge, Cadios and Dolar are also tipped to give the foreign opposition a run for their money in the individual contests while siblings Dorothy Grace and Danielle Grade and Princess Johanna Pama are expected to excel in women’s trios, Carrion said.