Paul Marton dela Cruz. (File photo)

CLARK — A mix of young bloods and veterans will try to end the four-year gold medal drought of the Philippines both in the recurve and compound events when the archery competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games opens Thursday here at the Clark Parade Grounds.

Paul Marton dela Cruz, winner of the 2014 Asian Games bronze medal, banner the 16-man national team along with 2014 Youth Olympic Games gold medal winner Gabriel Moreno and Olympian Jennifer Chan.

The medal match and awarding will be held on Sunday and Monday.

Dela Cruz will lead the men’s compound team together with Johan Olano, Roberto Badiola and Arnold Rojas, while the four-man recurve squad is composed of Moreno, Florante Matan, Jayson Feliciano and Carson Hastie.

The 54-year old Chan, a three-time SEA Games gold medal winner, will lead the women’s compound team alongside Andrea Robles, Rachelle Ann dela Cruz, and Abbigail Tinugduan while women’s recurve team will have Kareel Hongitan, Pia Bidaure, Phoebe Amostoso and Gabrielle Monica Bidaure.

The Filipino archers last won a gold medal, courtesy of the men’s compound team of Earl Benjamin Yap, Ian Patrick Chipeco and Delfin Anthony Adrian in the 2013 SEA Games held in Myanmar.

In the last edition of the biennial meet in 2017 in Malaysian, the Filipino archers settled for a silver and four bronze medals.

Nicole Marie Tagle took the silver in the women’s individual recurve, while the four bronze medals were delivered by Paul Marton Dela Cruz (men’s individual compound), Earl Benjamin Yap, Paul Marton Dela Cruz and Joseph Vicencio (men’s team compound), Moreno, Matan and Mark Javier (men’s team recurve), and Nicole Marie Tagle, Kareel Meer Hongitan and Mary Queen Ybañez (women’s team recurve).

Team Philippines faces tough opposition from Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Waylon Galvez

Filipino bet Hanniel Abella fell short on her bid to win the national team’s first gold in fencing as she dropped a 15-12 decision to Singapore’s Rahm Abella in the epee final of the 30th Southeast Asian Games Wednesday night at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Philippines’ Haniel Abella (left) loses to Singapore’s Abdul Rahman Kiria in the Fencing Individual Epee finals at World Trade Center, December 4, 2019 (Rio Leonelle Deluvio / Canon 1DX Mark II 70-200mm f2.8 lens)

Abella fell behind 6-3 in the first round, and 13-6 in the second, but rallied to trim the deficit 14-12 late in the third round. But the Singaporean foiled the local bet’s comeback bid when she connected the winning point.

“Kinapos siya at nahirapan against sa Singaporean,” said national fencing team’s assistant coach Arman Bernal. “ Pero nabalikan niya iyung nakalaban niya for the gold in 2017.”

Bernal is referring to Nhu Hoa Nguyen of Vietnam, whom she downed in the semifinals 15-10. Abdul defeated compatriot Cheryl Lim in the other semifinal match 15-10.

Abella’s silver is the second for the country after Christian Concepcion lost to Vietnam’s Vu Thanh An 15-13 in a tightly contested final in the men’s individual sabre.

The national team also claimed its second bronze medal courtesy of Nathaniel Perez.

Perez lost to Hans Yoong in the semifinals 15-11 of the men’s individual foil, joining Samantha Catantan, who got the bronze last Tuesday in the individual women’s foil event.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Betheena Unite

The Philippine men’s volleyball team rode on its momentum to remain unscathed in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the expense of Vietnam Wednesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The Philippine men’s volleyball team celebrates after beating Vietnam in men’s volleyball of the 30th SEA Games to book a semifinals berth at the Philippine Sports Arena in Pasig City, Dec. 4, 2019. (MB Photo / Alvin Kasiban)

Behind powerful hits and stellar defense, the Nationals completed a sweep 25-20, 25-21, 25-12 over the 2017 SEA Games bronze medalist for their second straight win.

Bryan Bagunas led the Philippines with 22 points off 17 attacks and three service aces. Mark Espejo, John Vic de Guzman, Kim Harold Malabunga and Francis Saura combined for 34 points.

Leading by two sets, the Philippine squad started the third frame with a 6-1 run.

The Filipino spikers pulled away when setter Joshua Retamar, who chipped in four points and dished off 17 excellent sets, blocked Vietnam’s attack to help PH lead by 11, 14-3.

National team head coach Dante Alinsunurin said their months-long training was crucial.

“Goal talaga namin na talunin kung sino man ang makaharap namin. Yung ginawa naming practice mula March, nag-usap kami na kailangan ngayon tayo naman ang mapanood ng mga tao na nananalo,” Alinsunurin said.

De Guzman, national team captain, said work has just begun for them.

“Nung una pa lang, nag-practice kami ang pinaka-target na namin is gold pero gaya nga ng sabi ni coach marami pa kaming pagdadaanan. Kumbaga mag-scout pa kami, mag-training pa kami nang mas maayos, mas double time kami sa practice saka siguro yung teamwork ma-maintain namin pagdating ng semifinals kasi alam naman namin na yung mga makakalaban namin lagi silang nasa top e,” he said.

“Kaya itong Vietnam natalo namin sobrang saya kami kasi laging nasa semifinals ang Vietnam e kasama ng Indonesia at Thailand, kaya sobrang happy kami at sana magamit namin ‘tong morale na ‘to pagdating ng semifinals.”

The Philippines and Indonesia, both unbeaten, clash on Friday.

oss card.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Waylon Galvez

Asian Games gold medal winner Bianca Pagdanganan fired a two-under 70 at the start of golf action in the 30th Southeast Asian Games Wednesday at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac.

Bianca Pagdanganan (File Photo)

Pagdanganan has a one-shot lead on Thailand’s Kan Bunnabodee, who had an opening round of 71. Natasha Oon of Malaysia is at third with a 72, while Lois Kaye Go of the Philippines is at fourth spot with a 73.

Pagdanganan and Go bagged the team event in the Asian Games in Indonesia last year alongside Yuka Saso.

Abby Arevalo, the third member of the Philippine Team in this biennial meet, had an opening round of 79.

Sean Jean Ramos of the Philippines, on the other hand, was a shot behind the four leaders after he carded a 69 in the men’s division.

Ramos’ score was the best for the four-man national team in the first day of stroke play in golf competition after Aidric Chan, Carl Corpus and Luis Miguel Castro all had a 74.

Four players are tied with 68s to share the lead — Singapore’s James Leow and Hiroshi Hirahara Tai and Thailand’s Denwit David Boriboonsub and Nopparat Panichphol.

The stroke play will continue on Thursday and Friday before Match Play starts Saturday where the top eight players from the stroke play will advance. The top four will move to the medal round Sunday.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Joseph Almer Pedrajas

Four Philippine boxing bets advanced to the semifinals after winning their respective bouts in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Forum in Pasay City Wednesday.

Philippine bet Josie Gabuco fights against Thailand’s Chuthailan Raksat in women’s 48 kg light flyweight boxing at the PICC Forum. (Joseph Pedrajas)

Josie Gabico won via split decision 4-1 in the 48 kg bout while Aira Villegas and Irish Magno defeated their foes via unanimous decision in the women’s 54kg and 51 kg categories. Carlo Paalam also bested the men’s 48 kg via unanimous decision.

Gabico, 32, had to handle Thai Chuthailan Raksat’s huge and loud supporters to get the nod of the judges, and maintain the chance to gun for her fifth SEA Games gold 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 28-29.

Villegas’ victory came next after defeating Villay Vongphachan of Laos 5-0, highlighted by successive punches with 1 min. and 30 secs left.

Magno, 28, capped off her first bid when after overwhelming Singaporean foe Leon Hui Xin Yee 30-27, 30-26, 30-26, 30-25, 30-25 while Paalam beat  Laotian opponent Khamp Khamsathone.

The semifinals continue Friday at the PICC Forum.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Kristel Satumbaga

Carlos Yulo gifted his hometown with three more silver medals on Wednesday night in the men’s artistic gymnastics of the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Carlos Yulo performs in parallel bars, scoring 14.600, to bag silver medal in the men’s artistic gymnastics in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila, Dec. 4, 2019. Yulo ends the SEA Games campaign with 2 golds and five silvers. (MB Photo / Alec Go)

Performing before the packed crowd that included his family and friends, the 19-year-old sensation settled for runner-up finishes in vaults, parallel bars and horizontal bar to end his debut campaign in the biennial meet with two gold and five silver medals.

Carlos Yulo’s parents, Angelica and Mark (Kristel Satumbaga)

He scored 14.700 in the vault behind champion Agus Prayoko of Indonesia (14.734), 14.600 in parallel bars behind winner Dinh Phuong Thanh of Vietnam (14.800), and 13.667 in horizontal bar behind gold medalist Dinh (13.767).

Yulo’s two gold medals came from Sunday’s individual all-around and Monday’s floor exercise, the same two events that qualified him to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

His other silver medals were from pommel horse and still rings.

Yulo’s parents, Mark and Angelica, couldn’t be prouder of their son’s latest achievements despite falling short of most people’s expectations of a seven-gold sweep.

“Sobrang happy na nakita ng mga kababayan niya na mag-compete siya. Talagang napabilib naman sila,” Angelica said.

“Nakakakaba, pero nakakatuwa din,” said Mark of hearing people chanting ‘Yulo! Yulo’ after Carlos’ every performance.

Yulo is expected to return to Japan to resume his training and studies, and will be back for the holidays to spend time with his family.

Yulo carved his name in history books as the first Filipino and male Southeast Asian to become a world champion after topping the floor exercise at the 49th FIG World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany last October.

Source: Manila Bulletin

Philippines’ Rubelin Amit prepares to take a shot during the women’s double 10 ball against the Thailands’ Siripaporn Naunthakhanjam at the 30th Southeast Asia games in Manila, December 4, 2019 (Czar Dancel)

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Hanah Tabios

At 65, billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes remains sharp after defeating his Thai opponent Thongchai Punyawee in the men’s 1-cushion carom quarterfinals with an over 60-point margin Wednesday at the Manila Hotel’s Tent City in Manila.

Reyes advanced to the semifinals match in the hopes of adding to the country’s medal drive.

This, despite his undisclosed medical condition which he shared to the media during the ambush interview right after the game.

“Hindi ko na maitaas ito (right arm). Wala na yung magic ko. Hindi na ako pwedeng magkaliwa, masakit na. Kaya yung mga dating tinitira kong may magic, wala na hindi na gumagana,” he said when asked if he was satisfied with his performance after ending the game with a final score of 100-37.

“Hindi gaganahan yung mga manonood lalo na yung mga nagsipunta rito para panoorin yung mga tirang hindi gumana. Ibig sabihin, dapat yung laban na yun sandali lang yung 100, mga ilang tirahan lang. Ang dami naming tira bago namin matapos ‘yon,” the world renowned Filipino athlete added.

His long years of experience, Reyes said, has somewhat numbed him of jitters.

“Wala akong kaba doon sa laro namin. Syempre yung kalaban ko medyo mahina pa yun so balewala. Kaya lang ang tira [ko] hindi gumagana,” he said in what seemed to be an assessment of his performance.

But he admitted that he is anticipating his match against his Vietnamese opponent  which he described as a “world champion” like him.

“Yung susunod ko na kalaban, medyo world champion na yung kalaban ko so ako na ang mahihirapan. Kung ang titirahin ko ganyan, kailangan mas maganda pa doon,” he said.

His family’s presence buoyed up him spirit, Reyes said.

“Masaya din ako na nagpunta din sila. Sa ngayon, tinutulungan din nila ako dito para pampagana.”

He then called on his fellow Filipino athletes to give the Games their best.

“Sa mga kapwa ko atleta, pagbutihin niyong maigi dahil kailangang-kailangan ng ating bansa ang mga medalya,” he said.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Nick Giongco

CAPAS, Tarlac—Fil-Am James Deiparine set a new meet record Wednesday in ruling the 100-meter breaststroke and winning the country’s first gold medal in a decade in the swimming competitions of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

James Deiparine reacts after bagging the Philippines’ first gold medal after a decade in the 100-meter breaststroke event of swimming at the Aquatics Center in Capas, Tarlac. (MB Photo / Mark Balmores / Captured using Sony A9 with 200-600mm Lens)

Deiparine, who settled for silver two years ago in the same event and in the 50-M in Kuala Lumpur, clocked one minute and 1.40 seconds to break the previous mark of 1:01.60 held by Vietnamese Nguyen Huu Viet.

The cheers of the roaring crowd at the Aquatics Center located inside the New Clark City grew louder as soon as Deiparine took the lead after the turn.

Vietnamese Pham Thanh Bao timed in at 1:01.92 and settled for the silver while Lionel Khoo grabbed the bronze with a time of 1:01.98.

“I am kind of speechless right now,” said Deiparine, whose feat was watched live by his loved ones.

“This means so much to my family and they gave me the energy (to win),” added the soft-spoken swimmer.

Earlier, Remedy Rule and fellow Fil-Am Jasmine Alkhaldi, also made it to the medal podium.

Rule campaigned in the women’s 200 butterfly and finished second and placed third in the 100 free where Allhaldi wound up second.

Miguel Barreto and Jessie Khing Lacuna ended up seventh and eighth in the 400 free; Rosalee Santa Ana eighth in the 200 butter; and Jonathan Cook, Xiandi Chua Chloe Isleta, Christian Jaden Olson, Jerard Dominic Jacinto and the men’s 4×200 meter free were not as fortunate as Deiparine, Rule and Allhaldi as they lagged behind their rivals.

Swimming is dangling 40 gold medals, many of them will end up in the hands of Singaporean bets, led by Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, who took his first gold in the 4×200 free relay.

Deiparine’s landmark victory overshadowed the four-gold haul of obstacle course, shooting’s twin wins, weightlifting’s and Muay’s surprise contributions that shoved the Philippines’ medal tally to 56-41-22 after taking nine gold medals on the day swimming finally got going.

As of 8 p.m., trailing are Vietnam (27-32-33) and Malaysia (21-12-22) while Singapore (18-12-20) and Indonesia (17-27-29) round off the top five.

The Philippines was off to a hot start by winning four in obstacle course.

The Philippines drew golden performances from Kevin Pascua and Rochelle Suarez in the men and women’s individual 100-meter x 10, mixed team assist 400-M x 12 and mixed team relay 400-M x 12.

Pascua timed 29.92 to take the gold while another Filipino, Mark Julius Rodelas, pocketed the bronze.

It was actually a 1-2 finish in the women’s with Milky Tejares taking the silver with a 47.88 clocking, a little more than one second behind Suarez.

The mixed team made up of Kyle Antolin, Kaizen dela Serna, Monolito Divina and Deanna Moncada also got the gold as well as the team relay made up of Diana Buhler, Jeffrey Reginio, Kim Rodriguez and Nathaniel Sanchez.

Marly Martir of the Philippine Navy ruled the WA/1500 Precision Pistol Course at Marine Base in Taguig. She was also a part of the women’s team event together with Elvie Baldovino and Franchette Quiroz.

After Hidilyn Diaz’s solid showing a few days ago, it was the turn of rising star Kristel Macrohon to shine when she captured the gold in the 71 kg class.

Macrohon, 23, had a total of 216 kg (93 snatch and 123 in clean and jerk) to beat entries from Vietnam and Indonesia.

Preliminary bouts in boxing also take place with four Filipinos entering the ring and three drawing a bye.

Those seeing action are Carlo Paalam in the men’s and Josie Gabuco, Aira Villegas and Irish Magno in the women’s.
Gabuco won over Raksat Chuthamat of Thailand in the 48 kg to advance to the semifinals.

Meanwhile, with the safety of the players, as well as their expensive horses, being taken into consideration, competitions in the 0-2 goals polo game at the Miguel Romero Polo Field in Calatagan, Batangas, were postponed for the second straight day.

Owing to the heavy rains caused by Typhoon Tisoy, organizers decided to make sure that the field be restored to its best condition to guarantee the safety of the participants.

“Everyone’s ready to play but we have to follow the recommendation of the officials,” said Rep. Mikee Romero, who plays for the Philippines.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Erma Edera 

The pins didn’t fall the Philippines’ way as the men’s local bets came up short in the bowling men’s doubles competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Coronado Lanes, Starmall EDSA in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday.

Kenneth Chua rolls a ball during the bowling event of the 30th SEA Games in Mandaluyong City. (PHOTO/ ALVIN KASIBAN)

Partners Kenneth Chua and Patrick Nuqui crashed to fifth place in the 15-team for a combined total of 2420 pinfalls with the former rolling 1176 and the latter tallying 1244.

The tandem opened the six-game series on top with a combined 477 pinfalls but slowed down in the next five games.

Other Filipino tandem Merwin Tan and Frederick Ong ended up at 9th spot with 2, 384 pins. Ong had 1183 pinfalls while Tan had 1201 pinfalls.

Indonesian bets Billy Muhammad Islam and Hardy Rachmadian struck gold after scoring a total of 2592 pinfalls.

Thailand Atchariya Cheng and Surasak Manuwong took the silver with 2564 pinfalls while Tunk Hakim and Rafiq Ismael of Malaysia bagged the bronze medal with 2556 pinfalls.

The Philippine  team will try their luck again at the mixed events on Thursday.

Source: Manila Bulletin