MANILA — Alexandra Eala and Carlos Edriel Yulo will spearhead the Philippines’ bid to surpass its four-gold haul from the previous Asian Games as a 464-strong national contingent battles Asia’s best in the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The Philippine Olympic Committee has submitted the country’s final roster, with Filipino athletes set to compete in 39 sports and several established champions and Olympic medalists carrying the country’s strongest medal hopes.
Eala, currently ranked No. 18 in the world, returns to the continental stage looking to improve on the two bronze medals she captured in the women’s singles and mixed doubles events at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
The 2026 Mubadala City Open champion is the second-highest-ranked Asian player, behind Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who will not compete in Aichi-Nagoya.
Eala is also expected to skip the China Open, a WTA 1000 tournament, to represent the Philippines following her US Open campaign.
Yulo, meanwhile, will chase the one major continental prize still missing from his résumé — an Asian Games gold medal.
The two-time Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics reinforced his status as one of the country’s leading gold-medal prospects after winning the floor exercise at the Asian Championships in Zunyi, China, in June.
Backing Eala and Yulo are returning Asian Games champions EJ Obiena, Annie Ramirez, the Gilas Pilipinas men’s basketball team and BMX rider Daniel Caluag.
Obiena will attempt to defend his Asian Games pole vault crown. The Asian record holder narrowly missed the podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing fourth but has since worked his way back from injuries.
Ramirez will defend her women’s ne-waza 57-kilogram title after ruling the event in Hangzhou. She enters the Asian Games as the reigning world champion in her weight class.
Gilas Pilipinas faces the challenge of defending the historic gold medal it won in Hangzhou, where the Filipinos ended a 51-year wait for an Asian Games men’s basketball championship.
The national squad, however, will feature a different-looking roster, with Justin Brownlee, a key member of the Hangzhou championship team, uncertain for the competition.
Caluag will attempt to regain the BMX cycling crown he won at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
The Philippine boxing team will lean on Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Aira Villegas.
Petecio won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze in Paris, while Paalam captured silver in Tokyo and Villegas brought home bronze from Paris.
Eumir Marcial will not be part of the boxing delegation because of his upcoming television debut.
Swimmer Kayla Sanchez will also return to the Asian Games after making her Philippine debut in Hangzhou. She was the Philippines’ most decorated athlete at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand with eight medals.
World junior champion and world record holder Albert delos Santos and Tokyo Olympian Elreen Ando will banner the country’s five-member weightlifting squad.
Former world junior taekwondo champion Tachiana Mangin is also set to make her Asian Games debut in the women’s 49-kilogram division.
The Philippines will also field teams in several major sports, including the Alas Pilipinas men’s and women’s volleyball squads, Gilas Pilipinas women’s basketball team, Filipinas women’s football team, the men’s U-23 football side, Blu Girls women’s softball team and the men’s baseball squad.
In wushu, Hangzhou bronze medalist Jones Inso and six-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Agatha Wong will compete, with Wong seeing action in the taijiquan and taijijian events.
The golf delegation features LPGA Tour players Bianca Pagdanganan and Pauline del Rosario, Japan Tour campaigner Justin de los Santos, Asian Tour veteran Miguel Tabuena and former US Girls’ Junior and US Women’s Amateur champion Rianne Malixi.
The 464 Filipino athletes will attempt to improve on the Philippines’ performance in Hangzhou, where the country collected four gold, two silver and 12 bronze medals.
The Hangzhou Games were staged in 2023 after being postponed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic./PN
