HANOI – The Philippines slipped from third to fifth in the medal tally after a lean day at the 31st Southeast Asian Games.
The Filipinos finished the day with 40 gold, 57 silver, and 79 bronze medals after a two-gold haul on Thursday, allowing Singapore (44-43-55) and Indonesia (42-61-57) to move past them to the third and fourth spots, respectively.
[See Gilas inches closer to gold after turning back Vietnam]
Vietnam continues to lead the pack with a 153-91-84 gold-silver-bronze tally while Thailand strengthened its hold of second with 62-68-95.
The men’s bowling team of four of Merwin Tan, Ian Dychangco, Ivan Malig, and Patrick Nuqui, and judoka Rena Furukawa were the only gold winners of the day for a Philippine side that started strongly but is showing signs of slipping for the third straight day.
However, the Philippines is banking on a couple of world-class athletes including Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz in weightlifting to pump life back into its campaign heading to the May 23 climax.
Silver medal winners were Christian Hallasgo in the women’s marathon, Keisei Nakano in the men’s -73 kilograms in judo, John Viron Ferrer in the men’s -90 kilograms in judo, Ronil Tubog in the men’s freestyle 74 kilograms in wrestling, Jhonny Morte in the men’s freestyle 65 kilograms in wrestling, Alvin Lobreguito in the men’s freestyle 57 kilograms, Jennifer Chan and Paul Marton Dela Cruz in the mixed team compound, and Darwin Laylo and Paolo Bersamina in the team rapid chess.
Bronze medalists on Thursday were Hermie Macaranas and Ojay Fuentes in the canoe kayak 1000 meter doubles, Jasmine Alkhaldi in the women’s 100-meter butterfly, Megumi Kurayoshi in the women’s judo -63 kilograms, Jason Balabal in the men’s freestyle wrestling, Nicole Erika Dantes, Rebecca Cyril Torres, and Sarah Pangilinan in the women’s team kata, Israel Cesar Cantos in the taekwondo men’s -87 kilograms, Samuel Morrison in the taekwondo men’s -80 kilograms, Rosegie Ramos in the women’s -49 kilograms weightlifting, Reman Musi Villanueva in the men’s kumite 68 kilograms, Dela Cruz, Florante Matan, and Andrei Johann Olano in the men’s team compound, Breanna Labadan in the women’s individual all-around in rhythmic gymnastics, and Janelle Mae Frayna and Marie Antonette San Diego in the women’s team rapid chess.
Eumir Marcial and Rogen Ladon advanced to the finals of their respective weight categories in boxing in the Philippine campaign supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
Gilas Pilipinas defeated Vietnam, 88-60, in men’s basketball, while the women’s team defeated the host, 118-87, to record their third win in as many outings.
Alex Eala and Treat Huey settled for a bronze medal in the mixed doubles after a defeat against Thailand.
The Philippine women’s volleyball team lost to Vietnam in three sets, heading into the bronze medal game against Indonesia on Saturday.
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