LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — The Philippines stayed on top of the medal tally of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games after all the medal events that took place on Friday.
As of 7:32 p.m., the Philippines had 71 golds, 55 silvers, and 50 bronzes.
The home side took eight golds on Friday, headlined by three 1-2 finishes early on.
At the Filinvest City complex in Muntinlupa, Sandi Abahan and Mervin Guarte took home the two gold medals at stake in the individual 5-km., 20-obstacle obstacle course race.
Guarte took the gold medal in the men’s division after he was done in 25 minutes and 31 seconds, while Abahan took the gold in the women’s division after she finished the course in 33 minutes and 30 seconds.
Sherwin Managil and Glorien Merisco sealed the Philippines’ sweep of the individual races by taking the silvers for their respective division.
Meanwhile, Christine Hallasgo stunned the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas after she beat heavy favorite Mary Joy Tabal for the gold in the women’s marathon race.
Hallasgo clocked in 2 hours, 56 minutes and 56 seconds to take the gold, barely a minute ahead of Tabal, who had to settle for the silver after finishing the 42-km. run at 2:58.
In Subic, Michael Comaling won the gold in beach triathle, a part of the modern pentathlon event, when he finished the course in 17 minutes and 8.87 seconds, almost 11 seconds faster than silver medalist Phurit Yohuang of Thailand, who clocked in at 17:19.83.
At the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac City, Bianca Pagdanganan claimed the gold in women’s individual gold after finishing the three-round event at seven-under-par 209.
At the LausGroup Event Centre in San Fernando, Pampanga, Mariya Takahashi took home the gold in the under-70-kg. women’s judo event.
Takahashi’s ippon over Thailand’s Surattana Thongsri turned out to be the decider as the former won the tiebreaker against the latter and Indonesia’s I Gusti Ayu Kakihara, who won over Takahashi but lost to Thongsri.
Takahashi was the only woman who scored an ippon in the round-robin tournament.
The final gold of the day came from the Manila Polo Club in Makati, where Jemyca Aribado, Robert Andrew Garcia, and Reymark Begornia won the mixed team squash event by beating the Singaporean trio of Yhann Au, Samuel Kang, and Aaron-Jon Liang, 3-0, in the finals.
In other results, the Philippine women’s beach volleyball team, consisting of Dzi Gervacio, Sisi Rondina, Bernadeth Pons, and Floremel Rodriguez, took the bronze medal after scoring back-to-back straight-set wins against Singapore, while Philippine billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes settled for a bronze in the one-cushion carom event after bowing in the semifinals to Ngo Dinh Nai of Vietnam, 14-100. (PNA)
