Harvest festival
20 golds in day 1 John Chicano and Kim Mangrobang rolled out the red carpet for the host nation after topping the men’s and women’s triathlon
CAPAS CITY — Taking its cue from the glamorous and impressive opening ceremonies Saturday night at the Philippine Arena, Team Philippines started its campaign in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games firm and with flare.
The host nation nearly matched its total gold-medal haul two years ago in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a strong showing in dancesports, arnis, sepak takraw and triathlon to lead the medal tally of the biennial meet on Sunday night.
The Philippines cornered 20 golds, four shy of matching its output in the entirety of the previous edition of the SEA Games, and added seven silver and five bronze medals.
John Chicano and Kim Mangrobang rolled out the red carpet for the host nation after topping the men’s and women’s triathlon, respectively, then the dancesports bets waltzed their way to the top to banner the Filipino athletes’ impressive start in this 11-nation conclave.
With last edition’s gold medal winner Nikko Huelgas competing in the mixed event, Chicano seized the opportunity to carve his own name in the competition and took the gold in record fashion with the time of one hour, 53 minutes and 26 seconds held at the Subic Bay Boardwalk in Zambales.
Triathlon dominated
“We’re very happy because this is for the country. I was able to execute our goal which is to surpass my personal best,” Chicano said.
Kim Remolino made it a 1-2 finish for the Philippine squad after finishing second with a clocking of 1:55.03, while Indonesia’s Muhammad Ahlul settled for bronze with 1:57.10.
Mangrobang retained her women’s crown with a 2:02.00 finish, while teammate Kim Kilgroe took the silver with 2:05.02. Indonesia’s Octaria Nechtavani pocketed the bronze with 2:16.33.
Yulo impresses
Tokyo-bound gymnast Carlos Yulo did not disappoint the thousands of Filipino fans who trooped to the newly-renovated Rizal Memorial Coliseum after winning the gold in the men’s gymnastics all-around event.
The 19-year Yulo, whose residence is just a stone’s throw away from the venue, is eyeing to sweep all of his seven events in gymnastics.
Stellar performance
But it was the Philippine dancesports squad that shone the brightest as it took 10 of the possible 14 golds in the event held at the Royce Hotel and Casino in Clark, Angeles, Pampanga.
The pair of Sean Mischa Aranar and Ana Leonila Nulla (Single Dance Tango, Single Dance Viennese Waltz and All Five Dances) and the duo of Wilbert Aunzo and Pearl Marie Caneda (Slow Cha-cha, Samba and Rumba) swept all their respective events.
“It’s really tiring. We prepare for this for one year and we just did it in less than one day. Finally, the pressure was off and we’re very happy. It has yet to sink in,” the 27-year old Nulla said.
Mark Jayson Gayon and May Joy Renigen took two golds (Single Dance Waltz and Single Dance Foxtrot), while Michael Angelo Marquez and Stephanie Sabalo also bagged two golds (Pasodoble and Latin Five Dance).
Crown defended
Agatha Wong retained her women’s taijiquan title of wushu event at the World Trade Center, tallying 9.67 points to edge Brunei’s Lachkar Basma (9.55) and Vietnam’s Tran Thi Minh (9.53), who settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
The Philippine sepak takraw squad also swept the men’s and women’s hoops event to add to the gold-medal haul, while arnisadores Dexler Bolambao (men’s bantamweight), Nino Mark Talledo (men’s featherweight), Villardo Cunamay (men’s lightweight) and Mike Banares (men’s welterweight) ruled their respective events in the full contact live stick event.
Winning silver for Team Philippines were men’s polo, Alisson Perticheto (free skating-senior women), John Fabliar Ceniza (men’s 55kg weightlifting), Gayon and Renigen (Single Dance Quickstep) and Marqyz and Sabado (Latin Jive).
The men’s and women’s floorball teams settled for bronze-medal finishes, while Daniel Parantac (wushu men’s taolu taijquan) and Avegail Rambaon (cross country mountainbike) also settled for bronze.
Top Filipina cyclist Ariana Dormitorio, who was the favorite to win the cross-country, was leading after three laps but had a crucial spill in the final turn at Laurel, Batangas to bomb out of the competition as she did not finish the race.