LEAN BUT SWEET HARVEST
BANGKOK—The euphoria surrounding the Philippine swimmers who won gold in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle for the first time was sweet.
It was also short-lived after Kayla Sanchez, just a day removed from resetting the standard in the 50-m backstroke, fell in her pet event to settle for the silver on Thursday, as jiujitsu aces and gymnast Aleah Finnegan saved the day for Team Philippines in the second day of skirmishes in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games here.
Finnegan ruled the vault—after a lot of anxious moments because of a mix-up in the scores—by just .033 points over Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu of Vietnam after tallying 13.433, which jacked up the PH gold medal haul to five counting the two victories of Dean Michael Roxas and Kimberly Anne Custodio in the ne-zawa event at Air Force Academy.
“They actually flashed the wrong score,” Finnegan, the Paris 2024 Olympian who is now a three-time SEAG gold winner, said “I looked at the score and talked to the judges. We were calculating. So much math.
“We are thankful for our Filipino judges. We are thankful to the staff that were making sure that this is the final score.”
Sanchez, who switched affiliations from Canada to be the spearhead of the swim delegation here, had anchored a quartet with Xiandi Chua, Chloe Isleta and Heather White to the gold on Wednesday, where she also erased the two-year record Indonesia’s Masniari Wolf after clocking 28.47 seconds.
The quartet clocked three minutes and 44.26 seconds to beat out traditional powerhouse Singapore, which timed 3:46.53, by over two seconds. Vietnam took the bronze at 3:47.47.
Roxas defeated Singapore’s Ee Aacus Hou Yu in the men’s 85-kilogram category, while Custodio reigned supreme over Thailand’s Sugun Nutchaya in the women’s 48kg class.
On his way to the final, Roxas downed Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Trien in the quarterfinals and Indonesia’s Muhammad Nurul Fikri in the semis.
Custodio won over Vietnam’s Pham Tu Ha in the round-of-16, Indonesia’s Arba Nazwah Dzakira Putri in the quarters and Thailand’s Tan Pechrada Kacie in the semis.
Yman Baluyo settled for silver in the men’s 69kg after bowing to Vietnam’s Dang Dinh Tung.
Meanwhile, the women’s football team advanced to the semifinals after a 6-0 crushing of Malaysia in Chonburi, with boxers Mark Ashley Fajardo and Ofelia Magno winning their respective bouts Ian Clark Bautista’s bid for a fourth gold medal thwarted by a hometown bet.
Fajardo defeated Vietnam’s Nguyen Duc Ngoc, 5-0, to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s 69kg division while Magno prevailed over Myanmar’s Aye Nyein Htoo, 4-1, for a spot in the semis women’s 48kgs.
With the win at Chulalongkorn University Sports Center, Magno is assured of at least a bronze medal.
Alexa Pino came through with a hat trick as the Filipinas confirmed their place in the last four by placing second behind Group B winner Vietnam.
There was also good news coming from the fairways of Siam Country Club Rolling Hills Course with Rolando Bregente and the popular Rianne Malixi sharing the individual lead in their respective divisions with home bets.
The 22-year-old Bregente, who broke into prominence after helping Eastridge to the PAL Interclub title earlier this year, fired an eagle-spiked seven-under-par 65, barely missing the lead to himself by dropping his only shot on the 18th.
Home bet Laopakdee Pongsapak, meanwhile, birdied his last two holes, and with that Bregente bogey, ended the day tied for the opening round lead even as Malixi carved out a 70 built around four birdies to share the lead with another local bet, Kaopattanaskul Kritchanya.
But while Bregente roared hard out of the gates, the rest of the team sputtered as Shinichi Suzuki, the tall Filipino-Japanese who has been a regular on PH teams for the last three years or so, struggled to shoot a 78 like Chris Remata, with Perry Bucay submitting a 77.
Junia Gabasa and Grace Quintanilla also had difficult days and returned a 79 and 82, in that order as both PH teams teams trailed big heading into the second round on Friday.
A well-loved side in a sport Filipinos have become so endeared to also suffered a defeat, as Alas Pilipinas women got waylaid by the powerhouse hosts, 25-11, 25-17, 25-16, at the start of volleyball competition at Hua Mark Stadium also in Bangkok.
No Filipino scored in twin digits in the lopsided defeat, which pushed Team PH to a must-win game against Singapore on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Manila for what would be the last place in the semifinals.
“The first match is not the way we expected,” Brazilian PH Team coach Jorde Souza de Brito said after losing to the Thais for the first straight time. “But we have a lot to deliver to the country, still.”
