NEW CLARK CITY - Clinton Kingsley Bautista edged Sofian Rayzam Shah Wan of Malaysia in a dramatic photo finish to bag the gold in the men's 110-meter hurdles of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
The 28-year-old native of Camiling, Tarlac and his Malaysian foe were given identical clockings of 13.97 seconds at the end of the thrilling race before a partisan crowd at the New Clark City Stadium.
But Bautista, who had to buck an injured knee, was given the gold after being determined he crossed the line first after a review.
"Focus lang talaga ako kanina. Wala akong pakialam sa paligid ko," said Bautista, who was cheered on the stands by relatives and friends who travelled from Tarlac all the way here to witness the Filipino hurdler churn out his personal best record.
Unheralded Melvin Calano also distinguished himself by winning the gold in the men's javelin throw with a 72.86-meter effort.
The silver medal was won by Abd Hafiz of Indonesia (71.00) followed by Hoai Van Nguyen of Vietnam (70.88) for the bronze,
The two golds raised the Filipino tracksters to nine golds to place third behind joint leaders Thailand and Vietnam with 10 golds each on top of the track and field medal tally.
The Filipinos missed the gold in the 800-meter run as favored Carter James Lilly was beaten to the gold by Van Thai Duong of Vietnam.
The Vietnamese, who appeared to have bumped Carter as the race in a mad dash for home, timed 1:49.91 seconds as the majority of the Filipinos in the stands jeered him while celebrating his victory on the track.
Lilly clocked 1:50,17 for the silver.
Also bagging a silver was the quartet of Zion Rose Nelson, Kyla and Kayla Richardson, and Kristina Knott who clocked 44.57 seconds in the women's 4x100-meter relay.
Thailand won the gold with a clocking of 44.38 seconds.