GOLDEN MOMENT
BANGKOK—Earning the distinction of being the first gold medalist of Team Philippines at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games made Justin Kobe Macario’s triumph on Wednesday even more special.
“It’s a huge honor,” Macario said after ruling the men’s individual freestyle poomsae event at Fashion Island Shopping Mall here.
Macario, a 23-year-old sports management graduate at University of Santo Tomas, got the nod of the judges with a score of 8.200 to edge out silver medalist Atchariya Koedkaew of host Thailand with 8.100.
Ken Haw Chin of Malaysia was a distant third with 7.740 points for the bronze medal.
His victory repaid the trust and confidence of his coaches, Jeordan Dominguez and Rani Ortega, who made Macario compete in the individual category.
He had won silver and bronze in the mixed freestyle event at the pandemic-delayed 2021 Hanoi Games three years ago, and at the 2023 edition in Cambodia, respectively.
“When the lineup was first announced, I felt very nervous because I’m not used to competing in an individual event at the SEA Games,” he said.
That’s why he was emphasizing the importance of having won the biennial meet, even if he had been a three-time Asian champion plus two silvers and one bronze in the World Championships, as per his Instagram bio.
He can now add a gold emoji as a SEA Games champion.
Macario’s bid for a second gold ended with a bronze as part of the mixed team freestyle.
Wednesday marked a busy slate of games around this Thai capital, surrounding cities and the province of Chonburi.
Poomsae produced more medals following Macario’s golden moment, with Rodolfo Reyes, King Nash Alcairo and Ian Corton taking silver in the men’s recognized poomsae after bowing to Indonesia.
Patrick King Perez and Jocel Lyn Ninobla claimed bronze in the mixed pair recognized poomsae event.
In Si Racha, mountain biker John Derick Farr became the first medalist of Team Philippines when he took a bronze in the men’s downhill event at Khao Kheow Open Zoo.
3×3 men in semis
Farr clocked in at two minutes and 43.676 seconds to secure a podium finish. Thailand’s Boonsae Methasit won the gold at 2:37.856 with Indonesia’s Sanjaya Rendy Varera taking the silver at 2:38.714.
The Las Piñas City native initially took the hot seat as event leader only to be dislodged from the top spot by the hometown bet.
Gilas Pilipinas, composed of Ange Kouame, Joseph Sedurifa, Joseph Eriobu and Janrey Pasaol, assured itself of a semis berth in men’s 3×3 after two hard-fought wins over Vietnam, 21-15, and Malaysia, 21-19, at Nimibutr Stadium.
Men’s baseball survived host Thailand, 8-7, in 10 innings to go 5-0 in Pathum Thani. The back-and-forth battle could serve as a preview of the gold medal match.
