SAKHIR, Bahrain – The Philippines is assured of achieving its best finish in the history of the Asian Youth Games, with action in the meet’s third edition still halfway through before curtains formally close this weekend.
A surprise gold in the boys’ 200m sprint delivered by 5-foot-11 PI Durden Wangkay gave the Filipinos their third gold medal here – the most number of golds the country won so far since the quadrennial showcase was first held in Singapore 16 years ago.
The Philippines tallied two golds and three silvers when the AYG held its second edition in Nanjing, China in 2013.
Wangkay, a Palarong Pambansa double gold medalist in the 100m and 200m dash, beat Chao-feng Chu of Chinese Taipei in a mad sprint to the finish.
Trackster Naomi Cesar added to the country’s medal haul also on Saturday when she snatched the silver in the girls’ 800m run.
That brought the Philippine contingent’s total tally so far at three golds, three silvers, and four bronzes to climb to seventh-place in the medal count a week since competitions in the 45-nation meet officially began.
China still leads the pack with 26 golds, 17 silvers, and seven bronzes followed by Uzbekistan (9-4-9), Iran (7-6-13), Thailand (7-4-4), Kazakhstan (4-7-13), and Chinese Taipei (3-4-9).
More to come for the Philippines
Chef De Mission Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara is looking at muay, weightlifting, boxing, and possibly jiu-jitsu as other sources of gold for the Philippines, although he’s not discounting other disciplines to deliver the way athletics did behind Wangkay and Cesar.
“Let’s pray for more (golds), but we have complete trust in our athletes,” said Suzara, who was at the Isa Sports City when the two tracksters completed their podium finish.
Kram Airam Carpio of pencak silat and traditional MMA’s Charlie Ratcliff provided the first two golds for Filipinos.
Bringing home the silver medals were Kristen Aguila of taekwondo (poomsae) and Travis Ratcliff in traditional MMA, while the bronze medal winners include Aeden Cereno (poomsae), the duo of Crystal Carino and Nicole Tabucol (teqball), Alexander Tagure Jr (traditional MMA), and the muay tandem of John Brix Ramiscal and Tyron Jamborillo (boy’s mai muay).
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