Team PH in respectable spot as medal-rich events up after SEA Games opening ceremonies


The delegation from the Philippines parades during the opening ceremony of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh on May 5, 2023.

The delegation from the Philippines parades in the course of the opening ceremony of the thirty second Southeast Asian Video games (SEA Video games) on the Morodok Techo Nationwide Stadium in Phnom Penh on Might 5, 2023. (Photograph by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)

Off to a comparatively promising begin, Staff Philippines settled comfortably behind host Cambodia as hostilities briefly paused Friday for the lavish opening ceremonies of the thirty second Southeast Asian (SEA) Video games.

Jiu Jitsu fighter Kaila Napolis and Angel Gwen Derla of kun bokator delivered the primary two gold medals for the nation other than a pair of silvers and three bronzes that likewise got here from each sports activities a day earlier than, good for second total within the 11-nation medal tally.

However in the event you ask Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol’’ Tolentino, the Philippines may have gotten extra.

“After all, it was good momentum for us to get two gold medals (previous to the opening). It impressed the athletes regardless of the ridiculous subjective resolution, particularly in kun bokator,’’ stated Tolentino.

He was referring to the efficiency of Alyssa Kylie Mallari, who completed second within the ladies’s bokator spirit kind solely to finish up with the bronze medal round her neck.

Cambodia’s Leakena Mao, as anticipated, dominated the occasion with 8.75 factors with Mallari carefully behind with 8.33.

Myanmar’s Nilar Soe Oo positioned third with 8.08, however her coach positioned a protest that exchanged the medal rankings of Mallari and Mao.

Certain golds

Obstacle course athletes will gift the Philippines two more gold medals when action goes full blast Saturday in Cambodia.

Impediment course athletes will present the Philippines two extra gold medals when motion goes full blast Saturday in Cambodia. —PHOTO BY PHILIPPINE OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

Impediment racers will give the Philippines two extra gold medals when motion goes full blast Saturday because the nation takes half in 16 occasions.

Filipinos will end 1-2 within the 100 meters with Mark Julius Rodelas and Kevin Pascua battling for the boys’s title with Valuable Cabuya and Kaizen dela Serna disputing the ladies’s gold as impediment racing provides to the medal tally of the Philippines that stood at 2-2-3 (gold-silver-bronze) earlier than the opening.

Cambodia has a 5-4-0 tally.

The 35-year-old Rodelas erased his personal world customary of 26.42 seconds, which was likewise the prevailing Guinness file, with a 25.09 effort within the preliminaries at Chroy Changvar Automotive Park. Pascua, the 2019 champ, solid the gold-medal encounter with a profession effort of 26.18 seconds.

“My objective on this SEA Video games is 24 seconds. I feel I can do it,” Rodelas stated. “I had a number of lapses in my final run. You won’t have observed them, however these small particulars trigger the delay in my run.”

Amongst these doing battle Saturday are the nation’s bets in athletics, swimming, 3×3 basketball, boxing, biking, e-sports, creative gymnastics, karate, vovinam, pencak silat, pétanque, sepak takraw, comfortable tennis, tennis, aquathlon, and the demonstration sport of teqball.

Christine Hallasgo additionally will get going, as she tries to reclaim the marathon gold she misplaced in Hanoi final 12 months.

“I’ll do the most effective I can to reclaim the gold,’’ stated Hallasgo, prepared for the lung-busting morning grind set in Siem Reap the place the majestic Angkor Wat serves as background alongside the 42-kilometer route.

Hallasgo goals to reclaim her crown towards Indonesia’s Odekta Elvina Naibaho and 2021 Hanoi bronze medalist Ngoc Hoa Hoang Thi of Vietnam. She’s going to get assist from new teammate Ruffa Sorongon.

“We checked out the course. I hope it received’t be as sizzling as they’ve predicted,’’ stated the 30-year-old Hallasgo, the pleasure of Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

The warmth index is tipped to rise to at the very least 39-degrees Celsius, with Richard Salano and Arlan Arbois aiming to upstage defending males’s marathon champion Hoang Nguyen Thanh of Vietnam within the occasion thought-about vast open with the absence of fancied Thai Tony Ah-Thit Payne.

Shortchanged

kaila napolis sea games gold

Philippines’ first SEA Video games gold medalist Kaila Napolis. –CAMBODIA 2023

“It was unhappy information. Our supposed silver was relegated to bronze due to that protest. I didn’t comply with that, however what can I do? We discovered that the coach of Myanmar is Cambodian,’’ stated Tolentino.

An indigenous fight sport in Cambodia, bokator is hand-to-hand fight that makes use of a various array of elbow and knee strikes, shin kicks, submissions and floor combating.

“Inventive kind isn’t fight kind to have video replays throughout. So, if creative kind may be protested, we may have filed a protest for his or her gold, however we didn’t do it in respect for the host nation,’’ stated Tolentino.

“We is likely to be anticipating lots of that this season, so we should put together for that,’’ added the POC chief.

Cambodia has restricted the variety of occasions for each female and male athletes from different nations throughout all sports activities, giving the host nation the sting since they will area the utmost variety of athletes allowed.

Cambodians bagged 5 gold medals and 4 silvers on Thursday constructed round their performances in kun bokator and jiu-jitsu to realize headway within the standing previous to the opening rites. Working third is Thailand with a lone gold plus one silver and a bronze.

However Napolis surprised the hosts when the 25-year-old from Laguna toppled Cambodian-Mexican Jessa Khan, an area hero and a world title in jiujitsu, within the ladies’s 52-kilogram finale.



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