Shouting’s not over yet
There are no signs the Filipino athletes are slowing down as the host nation approached the eve of the Games’ end on Monday, still padding its lead with 21 more gold medals
CAPAS CITY, Tarlac — Team Philippines surpassed the total number of gold medals the last time it won the overall crown of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2005. And it still has some more to take before it officially clinches the crown once again today.
There are no signs the Filipino athletes are slowing down as the host nation approached the eve of the Games’ end on Monday, still padding its lead with 21 more gold medals.
Boxing was the main source of golds for the Philippine team as Carlo Paalam (light-flyweight), Rogen Ladon (flyweight), Josie Gabuco (women’s light-flyweight), James Palicte (light-welterweight), Charly Suarez (lightweight), Eumir Marcial (middleweight) and Nesthy Petecio (women’s featherweight)) punched their way to triumphs.
Among the seven Pinoy boxers who won gold medals, Marcial scored the most impressive victory by knocking out Vietnam’s Nguyen Manh Cuong in the first round.
The rest prevailed via unanimous decisions. Jiu-jitsu, taekwondo, karatedo and wrestling produced more golds for Team Philippines, which has 129 golds, 96 silvers and 100 bronze medals as of this writing.
The Philippines won a total of 113 golds the last time the country hosted the event in 2005 although in fewer events.
Carlo Angelo Pena (men’s 56kg), Meggie Ochoa (women’s -45kg) and Dean Roxas (men’s -85kg) brought home the golds for the jiu-jitsu entries at the Laus Event Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Jamie Lim produced one of the most emotional gold medal performances yesterday after beating Indonesia’s Georgia Zafanya, 2-1, in the women’s kumite +61kg. She offered her triumph to her father Samboy Lim, the legendary Philippine Basketball Association player who suffered a heart attack many months back.
“For five months, I worked so hard for this. I gave everything and against all odds,” the 22-year old Lim said.
“My dad is my inspiration for all of this. In June, I graduated and received summa cum laude, just like mom. And I’m a gold medalist in the SEA Games, just like my dad,” she added. The elder Lim won the SEA Games gold in men’s basketball in 1985.
It was also a family affair in the mixed compound recurve archery as the husband-and-wife tandem of Paul Marton and Rachelle de la Cruz took the first gold medal for the country in the sport.
Athletics once again delivered gold medals courtesy of Melvin Calano (men’s javelin throw) and hometown bet Clinton Bautista (110-m hurdles), both national team mainstays who won their first gold medals here.
Windsurfing also contributed three mints courtesy of Yancy Kaibigan (men’s RS X), Geylord Coveta (RS One) and the keelboat team.
Jason Baucas (Greco Roman wrestling men’s 72kg), Kurt Barbosa (men’s taekwondo -54kg). Jerry Olsim (kickboxing kick light 69kg) and Dennis Orcollo (men’s 10-ball billiards) also came out victorious in their respective events.
The fight for second position in the overall race will be a tight one as Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are separated by mere five golds. Vietnam, the next host of the biennial meet, took the No. 2 spot with 75-76-87 (gold-silver-bronze), followed by Thailand (74-88-99), Indonesia (69-73-94), Singapore (50-39-58), Malaysia (48-49-64), Cambodia (4-6-27), Myanmar (3-17-47), Brunei (2-5-6), Laos (0-5-22) and Timor-Leste (0-0-3).