UPS AND DOWNS
Agatha Wong won a sixth wushu gold, the men’s and women’s Gilas Pilipinas cage squads triumphed, the glamorous Alas Pilipinas women’s team bowed out of the gold hunt and Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo performed way below expectations on a day that had its highs and lows for Team Philippines in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
Wong ruled the women’s taijiquan and taijijian event after garnering 9.783 points to add another gold to her impressive resume in the regional showcase, winning the country’s 16th gold as Team PH occupied sixth place as of 8 p.m. in Manila in the overall race by having 23 silver and 54 bronze medals.
“Even at an early age, I didn’t know I was meant for this,” the 27-year-old Wong said after her latest achievement. “I just really tried to do my best because it’s not every day that you get an opportunity to represent your country.
“Now that I ended my year with a gold medal, I am really happy,” said Wong, who added to her taijiquan wins in the 2017, 2019 and 2021 editions and taijijian in 2019. She won two years ago in Cambodia when taijiquan and taijijian became a single event.
The fear of losing
“Every time I go to the SEA Games, I feel like I’m going to lose,” The 27-year-old Wong, who also had silvers in 2017 (taijijian) and 2021, went on. “Coming to Bangkok, I was really scared. But I’m going home a champion.”
Diaz-Naranjo, the first to deliver an Olympic gold to the Philippines, obviously isn’t.
Now 34, Hidilyn finished fourth in the women’s 58-kilogram (kg) division, 200 kg after lifting 90 in snatch and 110 in clean and jerk at Chonburi Sports School, about an hour from Bangkok.
Suratwadee Yodsarn of host Thailand won the gold with a total of 224kgs, Indonesia’s Natasya Beteyob took the silver at 218kgs, while Vietnam’s Thi Tam Quang settled for bronze with a total lift of 215.
It was Diaz’s first competition since last year’s IWF World Cup in Phuket, when she failed to qualify for what would have been her fifth Olympic appearance.
For the fifth straight time, meanwhile, the Alas Women were relegated to the bronze medal match after getting swept by Vietnam, powered by Tran Thi Thanh Thuy’s 15 points, 17-25, 14-25, 17-25, in the semifinal at Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.
Both of Alas’ losses came in straight sets, the other one being against regional power Thailand, which is playing Indonesia at press time. The loser of that match will be the Filipinos’ foes for the bronze.
“Of course, everyone is still optimistic even after today’s loss,” Eya Laure said in Filipino. “We still have the mindset that we can do this because we’re here for each other and that’s enough for us.
“We’re sticking to the plan. We’ll bounce back, recover and come back better tomorrow,” she added.
Meanwhile, in the battle for the gold that matters the most back home, the Gilas Men opened their bid in a jittery way before scoring an 83-58 demolition job of Malaysia, as Robert Bolick, Ray Parks and Thirdy Ravena took charge at the start of basketball action.
“We have to get better as the tournament goes on,” said coach Norman Black. “This is actually our first game as a group. So when I say first game, I mean really the first game.”
Felt like home
The Filipinos gun for an outright semifinal spot as the top Group A team with a win on Monday against Vietnam.
The second and third placers in each group will play a crossover qualification for the two other semis berths.
Group B is composed of host Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Myanmar.
Black’s wards authored the victory before a big crowd of Filipinos, who took advantage of the weekend to witness both the men’s and women’s teams, with the Filipino women downing Singapore, 92-59, to secure a place in the semifinals.
Parks had 18 points, six rebounds and two assists, Bolick put up 17 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Ravena added 13 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
