PH breaches 100-gold mark, controls SEA Games
Credit to Author: Jean Russel V. David| Date: Sun, 08 Dec 2019 16:09:47 +0000
CAPAS, Tarlac: The Philippines breached the 100-gold medal mark on Sunday to virtually clinch the overall championship in the 30th Southeast (SEA) Asian Games.
With 104 gold, 78 silver and 87 bronze medals, the Philippines is the runaway leader with two days left in the biennial event.
Indonesia was a far second with 64-60-75 gold-silver-bronze tally followed by Vietnam (57-57-71).
The medal haul was complemented by the record-breaking spree of Team Philippines.
At the New Clark City Athletics Stadium here, 24-year-old Natalie Uy broke the six-year-old SEA Games pole vault record after clearing 4.25 meters.
The Filipino-American Uy smashed the 4.21 m record Sukanya Chomchuendee of Vietnam set in 2013.
She also matched the record she set in April 2019 at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational-University of Cincinnati Meet.
Thailand posted a 2-3 finish with Chayanisa Chomchuendee settling for the silver (4.10 m) and Chonthicha Khabut for the bronze (4.00 m).
In the 100 meters, Kristina Marie Knott failed to duplicate her gold by a mere 0.01 millisecond behind eventual champion Tu Chinh Le of Vietnam.
Le clocked 11.54 seconds to edge the Fil-Am Knott’s 11.55 seconds.
Knott debuted in style Saturday by setting a new SEA Games and Philippine record in the 200m with 23.01 seconds.
At the Aquatics Center here, James Deiparine took the silver in the 50m breaststroke, just 0.17 seconds behind Singapore’s Chien Yin Lionel Khoo.
In Muay Thai, Phillip Delarmino and Ariel Lee Lampacan earned two tough victories to win the gold at the Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic.
Delarmino, the bronze medalist in the 2018 IFMA World Championship, fended off Vietnam’s Long Doan Nguyen to dominate the 57kg division via unanimous decision, 29-28.
Delarmino’s feat was duplicated by Baguio-native Lampacan, who recovered from a lethargic start to win via UD (29-28) against Sakchai Chamchi in the 54kg weight class.
Ryan Jakiri, Islay Bomogao and Jenelyn Olsim settled for the silver in their respective final matches.
The Blu Girls picked their 10th SEA Games gold to stay unbeaten in the Games.
The women softball team routed Indonesia, 8-0, in the final held at The Villages in Pampanga.
“Of all the softball titles by the Blu Girls this is the easiest and the sweetest,” said team manager Randy Dizer. “It’s because we played in our home court, that’s the biggest thing.”
The Blu Boys got stranded with a silver medal after suffering a shocking 6-1 loss to Singapore.
It was the first time the Philippines lost the men’s title since the 1997 edition, when the country bowed to Indonesia.
Noelle Conchita Corazon Mañalac teamed up with Noelle Nikki Camille Zoleta to grab the women’s doubles gold in soft tennis at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Sunday.
Mañalac beat Kawengai Anadeleyda of Indonesia 4-2 for the singles crown and combined with her younger sister to beat Sawitre Naree and Natchatjira Kerdsomboon of Thailand 5-0 in doubles play.
The win was extra special because it gave the Philippines its 100th gold.
Adding to the golden surge were the Filipino wakeboarders, who capped their stint with 2-2-2 gold-silver-bronze medal haul in wakeboard and waterski held at the Deca Wake Park Clark.
Susan Larsson and Jhondi Wallace dominated their opponents to sweep the wakeskate category.
Larsson scored 61.00 to beat Thailand’s Thip Penpayap (50.00) and Alysha RIzwan of Singapore (39.33)
Wallace had 70.33 points to edge Polapat Romchatngoen of Thailand (67.00) and compatriot Christian Joson (64.33).
Patcharapon Jungguluam of Thailand topped the women’s wakeboard with 72.33 points followed by Filipinas Samantha Bermudez (62.67) and Nadya Sinaga (45.33).
Sanya Phonthip powered a 72.67 showing to quash Raphael Trinidad of the Philippines, 69.33, to rule the men’s wakeboard. Trinidad’s compatriot Ralph Gelo Villaro settled for bronze with 61.00 points.
Melcah Jen Caballero won her second SEA Games gold by topping the lightweight women’s sculls 7:50.89 held at ACEA Bay in Subic.
Last Friday, Caballero and Joanne Delgado topped the women’s lightweight double sculls.
Tsukii Junna Villanueva delivered the first gold in karate, beating Vietnamese Dinh Thi Huong, 1-0, in the -50kg kumite finals.
Norman Montalvo settled for the silver in the men’s -55kg division, bowing to Selvam Prem Lumar of Malaysia, 6-1.
The country’s dragon boat team took the bronze in the Traditional Boat Race 22-seaters 500m mixed category at the Malawaan Park, Subic.
The Philippines clocked 4.662 seconds behind eventual gold medalist Indonesia, which finished at 1.53.753. Thailand took the silver.
The same team also got a bronze in the 22-seaters 200m mixed finals last Saturday.
In surfing, Roger Casugay made headlines by saving Indonesian challenger Mencos Cosomen from drowning in a semifinals match in La Union.
Leading the race, Casugay turned back to rescue Cosomen, sacrificing his SEA Games gold dream.
On Sunday, Casugay finally bagged his first gold, by winning the all-Filipino men’s longboard.
He faced off compatriot Rogelio Esquivel and topped the competition with a score of 14.50. Esquivel came in second with 14.20 followed by Dean Permana of Indonesia (11.75).
The Philippines’ Sibol Dota 2 team assured itself at least a silver after sweeping Vietnam in the upper bracket finals of the eSports at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Philippine Dota 2 squad made short work of the Vietnamese team, pulling off two straight victories in the best-of-three series.
The Philippine women’s football team missed out on a chance of ending a lengthy medal drought after suffering a 1-2 defeat to Myanmar in the battle for bronze on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.