SEA Games: Wong captures 2nd gold, PH pulls away from pack

By Nick Giongco

CLARKFIELD, Pampanga—Agatha Wong snared her second wushu gold medal Tuesday after topping the taijijian event in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

As Wong was dazzling the crowd and the judges at the World Trade Center in Manila, arnis also made its move in Angeles City as Crisamuel Delfin and Mary Aldeguer ruled the non-traditional open weapon events at the Angeles University Foundation.

Their early contribution put the Philippines medal output at 41 gold, 21 silver, and 14 bronze medals, way ahead of closest pursuers Vietnam (17-23-17) and Malaysia (10-2-7) as of 1 p.m. of Tuesday.

Wong had won her first gold in the taijiquan event on Sunday.

On the first day of competitions, the Philippines zoomed to the top with 22 and then added 16 on Monday.

SEAG chief of mission Butch Ramirez, chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission, expressed his satisfaction over the hosts’ strong start in the 11-nation sports fest featuring 530 events in 56 sports.

“After almost three days of intense competitions, and with Team Philippines performing magnificently in the face of world-class foes, I would like to send my message of congratulations to all who fought valiantly to uphold national pride,” said Ramirez in a statement.

“You are all winners to us! We are riding on this positive wave and continue to hope that we can sustain this good performance,” he said.

With Typhoon “Tisoy” affecting a large part of Luzon, where all of the sports are being played in different locations in Metro Manila, Central and Northern Luzon, and Southern Tagalog, the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) opted to postpone events in skateboarding, underwater and polo, shooting (in Manila),  petanque, sepak takraw, canoe-kayak, and surfing in Subic Bay.

The events will be moved to a later date but not beyond the Dec. 11 closing day of the biennial meet.

Source: Manila Bulletin