THE 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand ended just a few days ago, and while many moments clearly stung, there were some moments of magic that gave our people pride and joy.
Before the images of our most recent athletic campaign are nudged to the sidelines by Christmas and New Year, allow us to recall the achievements and travails of the wonderful men and women who, win or lose, gave their all to set personal bests for sport and country. So, one more time…
OUR HONOR ROLL
WOMEN’s FOOTBALL TEAM WINS GOLD, MAKES HER-STORY.
We weren’t prepared for this, but there they were, the women’s football team, doing what no Philippine team had done before in the world’s No. 1 sport — win the SEA Games gold medal!
Indeed, who would have thought that an unheralded squad of hastily assembled women would produce a performance for the ages?
Making it happen was Olivia McDaniel, Fil-American goalie, who made the game-winning save in the penalty shootout against four-time defending champion Vietnam.
This was after the Philippines and Vietnam scored on their first five penalty kicks following a scoreless tie in regulation. On the sixth try, McDaniel dived to deny the defending champion victory.
Previous to this, Jaclyn Sawicki booted in the Philippines’ sixth attempt to the top left corner for a 6-5 lead.
The Philippines was delirious; Vietnam was stunned beyond belief. Tears overflowed on both sides, but ours were tears of joy for a country that had never won a football title, not even a bronze, in the men’s or women’s division, in a multisport competition.
Congratulations to the team and its historic performance, as credit goes, too, to coach Mark Torcaso who guided the team all the way to the mountaintop.
GILAS STRUGGLES BUT PULLS OFF SWEET WIN IN THE END.
Gilas Pilipinas gave the country its 50th and final gold medal at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, saving the best for last.
The gold medal did not get the country beyond sixth place overall, but Gilas’ win was sweet and decisive, denying Thailand’s dream of upsetting the Philippines in a sport that the host country wanted as the cherry on top of the cake in its overall supremacy.
Instead, basketball was the sport to remind the hosts that, even as it sits on top in this corner of the world, it can’t have it all.
Thailand had no peer in this edition of the SEA Games, smashing the opposition like a sledgehammer going through thin wooden walls. Its 233 gold medals, against runner-up Indonesia’s 91, is a brutal testament.
It took the Philippines to bring them back down to earth. The Thais thought it was easy to do the same in basketball where, as Games’ organizers, they put up one hurdle after another to emasculate the Philippine team.
But no luck there. Despite being egged on by tens of thousands of supporters in and outside the jampacked Nimibutr Stadium, the Thais, after putting up a fierce fight, folded. In the end, Gilas took home the title, 70-64.
“Wild celebrations ensued for Gilas at the Nimibutr Stadium in what looked like a release of pent-up emotions from the not-so-ideal preparations due to revisions to the roster that initially had the likes of Justin Brownlee and Remy Martin, only to be thumbed down by organizers,” said our SPIN.ph reporter Reuben Terrado at the scene.
And to add insult to injury for the Thais, Gilas star Robert Bolick, when the title appeared uncertain, made the “night, night” gesture. In effect telling the Thai fans: “It’s time to go to sleep.”
“Sarap sa feeling,” Bolick said. He might as well have been speaking for the entire team.
EALA PROVES THE HYPE JUSTIFIED, ONE MORE HISTORY MADE.
Alex Eala’s finals match was one of the most-anticipated encounters at the Southeast Asian Games.
Not only did it get huge publicity, it truly drew the crowd in. Eala, after all, was the face of the Games’ tennis tournament.
At 52nd in the world, she is the highest-ranking player entered and, therefore, seeded first. But nothing was set in stone; she has the unenviable reputation of losing big matches and succumbing to lesser opponents.
The question in many people’s minds, including fans here and over in Bangkok, was: Can she deliver the gold?
Her road to the finals spoke volumes. It was easy breezy and her cold, calculating game had no equal. She reached the finals after beating Malaysia’s Shihomi Leong, 6-3, 6-1, in the quarterfinals, and subduing Thailand’s Thasaporn Naklo in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-4. She had a first-round bye.
The finals turned out to be a walk in the park. Though with a few questionable line calls, she eventually settled down and produced a masterclass against Thailand’s No. 1, Mananchaya Sawangkaew, 6-1, 6-2.
After the national anthem was played, Eala, 20, openly admitted she was emotional.
“I think yun, nakakaiyak sa akin,” she said, “when they play the national anthem. Matagal ko nang pinaapangaraap yun na ako ang makadala ng ganung pride sa Pilipinas.”
Also quite sweet for her was the presence of her family, including her mother Rizza, who herself had competed in the SEA Games in 1985 as a swimmer, and won the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke.
Earlier, Eala won a bronze in mixed-doubles tennis with court partner Francis Alcantara.
Eala’s finals win ended a 26-year-old gold-medal drought in the sport. In the women’s division, the last gold for the Philippines came in 1999 from Maricris Fernandez. For the men’s division, Cecil Mamiit won it all for the country in 2007.
EJ OBIENA RULES THE POLE VAULT
Day 7 of the Southeast Asian Games would have been another ordinary day in the country’s campaign. But, there was EJ Obiena to make it special.
Team Philippines was en route to a ho-hum four gold medals that day, a very normal haul for top performing countries, with the exception of Thailand which consumed four golds before brunch. Then, Obiena took centerstage.
The 30-year-old had already won three golds in three previous Games, and was the last Games’ champion, therefore a fourth was a realistic goal. But the Filipino found himself challenged by Patsapong Amsamarng at the Supachalasai National Stadium.
Obiena, once No. 2 in the world in pole vaulting, had to dig deep to retain his crown, which came down to a tiebreak after he and the Thai vaulted with a similar height of 5.70 meters.
Each tried to better the result, but three tries at 5.75 yielded nothing, the bar literally falling right alongside them.
In the end, Obiena won the gold by countback. He had scored the first 5.70, with the Thai succeeding after three tries. The win broke the SEA Games record for most wins in the event. It was also a new meet record.
“Too close. Too close for comfort,” Obiena said. “but I knew that going in really early this season. I thought I’d win with 5.65, something like that, 5.60. I have like four bleeding blisters going in, so it is what it is. I had a jump to do.”
Obiena first won the event in 2019 at home, then broke his own record in the Games’ next two editions, clearing 5.46m in Vietnam in 2021 and 5.65m in Cambodia in 2023.
SISTERS NAOMI AND MALEA CESAR SHINE IN SEA GAMES.
When Naomi Cesar dashed to the finish line 0.1-second ahead of her closest pursuer, many wanted to know: Who is this girl who just gave the Philippines the gold medal in the women’s 800 meters?
At 16 years old, Naomi doesn’t look anything like a serious contender for a gold medal. She is one of the youngest, if not the youngest, in Team Philippines’ 1,600-strong SEA Games contingent. Add to this, she was competing in only her second international event.
But after beating the odds — including a dynastic Vietnam that had ruled this event for a staggering 26 years, besides owning the race’s last 13 editions — Cesar has served notice. With serious training, nutrition, guidance, and overall support, there is no reason she cannot be a force for the Philippines at the Asian Games and, why not? even at the Olympics.
Naomi’s ascendance can be traced to her genes. She comes from a family of athletes. Her father, Ben Cesar, was a former national trackster himself, and it is he who has guided her through the physical discipline and emotional control she needs to be a champ, allowing her to achieve what he himself fell short of in his prime.
Here’s how the race unfolded, in the eyes of a writer from JuanSports:
“From the gun, Naomi Cesar displayed a maturity that belied her age. She positioned herself smartly within the lead pack, refusing to be drawn into an early sprint while maintaining close contact with the seasoned contenders from Vietnam and Thailand. Her stride was economical, her posture relaxed, and her focus unbroken.
“Midway through the second lap, chaos briefly threatened to derail her run. As the field tightened entering the curve, Cesar was clipped and momentarily lost balance. Such a disruption can shatter rhythm and confidence, especially for a young athlete on the sport’s biggest regional stage. But Naomi Cesar recovered instantly, recalibrating her stride and shifting lanes without panic.
“That moment proved pivotal. Instead of rattling her, the scare seemed to ignite her competitive fire. With 200 meters remaining, defending Vietnamese champion Nguyen Thi Thu Ha surged forward, attempting to assert control and extend Vietnam’s long-standing dominance. Cesar responded without hesitation. Drawing on months of meticulous preparation, she unleashed her finishing kick — smooth, powerful, and perfectly timed.
"The stadium erupted as the two athletes raced shoulder to shoulder down the final straight. In a dramatic finish that required a photo review, Naomi Cesar edged ahead by a tenth of a second, stopping the clock at 2:10.2, with Nguyen crossing at 2:10.3.”
The Cesar family made the SEA Games doubly memorable after Noomi’s older sister, Malea, helped the women’s football team win the gold medal in what goes down as another historic performance by a Philippine team.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM WINS BRONZE
THE Alas Pilipinas Men capped its 33rd SEA Games campaign with a bronze medal, clawing back from two sets down to beat Vietnam, 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 16-14.
The Nationals needed four match points in an extended fifth-set tiebreak before Lloyd Josafat’s ace drove the final nail on Vietnam's coffin in a thrilling match at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok.
That ace from the veteran middle blocker capped his bronze-winning performance and his tournament-best 11-point game on six attacks, three blocks, and two aces.
The hard-fought reverse sweep sealed the country’s first indoor volleyball medal in the biennial meet since the program’s historic silver-medal run on home soil in 2019.
It was also a bit of redemption for men’s volleyball which had a woeful performance at the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Championship hosted by the Philippines last month at a cost of P2 billion. – JM GARCIA
BEACH VOLLEYBALL TEAM CAPTURES GOLD
ALAS Pilipinas Women Beach etched their names in history on the sands of Pattaya, delivering the country’s first-ever SEA Games beach volleyball gold medal at Jomtien Beach.
For the first time in eight editions since beach volleyball was introduced in 2003, Thailand relinquished the gold medal, handing the Philippines its first SEA Games volleyball title, indoor or beach, in 32 years since the women’s indoor team last struck gold in 1993, also at Thailand’s expense.
Veteran duo Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons completed a measure of redemption by overturning their preliminary-round loss, this time sweeping Thailand’s Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee and Taravadee Naraphornrapat, 21-17, 21-15, in the first game of the finals.
Putting the golden finish on an unprecedented Philippine campaign was the tandem of Dij Rodriguez and Sunny Villapando, who ousted the other Thai pair of Tanarattha Udomchavee and Rumpaipruet Numvong in straight sets, 21–13, 17-21, 15-6. – JM GARCIA
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