Manila, Philippines, October 4, 2025: Philippines Olympic Committee President Abraham ‘Bambino’ Tolentino is targeting a best-ever finish for his country at the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain later this month.
The POC President revealed that the goal of the 141-strong athlete squad will be to surpass the two gold medals Pauline Lopez (taekwondo) and Mia Legaspi (golf) won in the last edition in Nanjing, China, in 2013.
“We have strong chances at the gold medals in combat sports, but we’re not discounting production in other fronts,” Tolentino was quoted by the Business Times, last week.
Tolentino added that the AYG is the second-largest multi-sport competition in the continent after the flagship Asian Games. Over 4,300 athletes from 45 Asian National Olympic Committees will participate in 26 sports at the October 22-31 event.
The first batch of the 141-athlete Team Philippines will fly to Manama on October 17, five days ahead of the opening ceremony of the 3rd Asian Youth Games. The second batch will arrive on October 20.
The Philippines will compete in 19 sports. Jiu-jitsu has the most number of Filipino athletes, 17, followed by taekwondo with 16, and wrestling with 13.
The Philippines is also competing in volleyball (12), teqball (6), golf (6), triathlon (2), MMA (5), Muay Thai (12), athletics (8), boxing (6), cycling (6), weightlifting (6), table tennis (6), badminton (8), beach wrestling (3), aquatics (3), kurash (4), and pencak silat (2).
China dominated the Nanjing AYG by winning 71 of the 231 gold medals. Thailand emerged as the best Southeast Asian nation with 17 golds, followed by Singapore with 14, and Vietnam five.