Let the Games begin

An "elegant but not extravagant" opening ceremony will mark the official start Sunday of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, a sports spectacle the Philippines is hosting only for the third time.

The flags of the 11 participating countries were raised in rites at the Rizal Park on Saturday, but the traditional parade of athletes and song and dance extravaganza unfolds today at the Quirino Grandstand.

The Philippines finished second to Indonesia in the medal standings in the 1991 Manila Games. It hopes to improve on its fourth-place finish in the Vietnam Games in 2003.

More than 4,000 athletes and officials will be participating in the Games. The Philippines has 743 in its delegation.

The events are spread in several venues, a number of which are outside Metro Manila.

Basketball is prominent in its absence. A dispute between two basketball associations has prompted the world basketball governing body to ban the Philippines from holding basketball games. The country is the defending champion in men’s basketball and has never been beaten in the Games.