by Julia Marie Mangmang

As of 8 P.M. today, the Philippines still ranks fourth behind Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia in the overall medal tally, with a total of 51 medals—12 gold, 19 silver, and 20 bronze at the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.

ICYMI 

Last night, Gina Iniong and Jean Saclag reigned supreme in the women’s low kick minus-60kg and men’s low kick minus-63.5 kg divisions, respectively. 

Renalyn Dacquel, Gretel De Paz Cordero, Zephania Ngaya, and Claudine Decena, also from the country’s kickboxing team, each bagged silver medals, too. 

Estie Liwanen of the kurash team claimed bronze in the women’s minus-57 kg competition. 

Highs and Lows

Earlier today, Fernando Casares and Kim Mangrobang claimed the gold in the men’s and women’s individual triathlon competition, respectively. Meanwhile, Samantha Cantalan secured the gold in the women’s individual fencing tournament. 

Meggie Ochoa and Annie Ramirez of the jiu-jitsu team each delivered golds in the women’s minus-48kg and minus-62kg divisions, respectively.

Flag bearer EJ Obiena also defended his men’s pole vault title as it only took him a single jump to secure the gold. While he did fail to match his personal best of 5.94 meters, he successfully set a Games record height of 5.46 meters.  

Following the men’s gymnastics team’s silver finish last night, the women’s squad nabbed the gold. 

Today’s silver medalists were Kim Remolino of triathlon, Joanie Delgaco of rowing, Agatha Wong of wushu, Kyla Richardson of athletics, Carlo Peña of ju jitsu, Noelito Garcia of fencing, Hokett Delos Santos in the men’s pole vault competition, and Aleah Finnegan of the women’s artistic all-around. 

On the other hand, Jones Inso, who had just won silver yesterday, Raven Alcoseba of triathlon, Cris Nievarez of rowing, Edgar Ilas and Zuriel Sumintac of the rowing men’s lightweight pair competition, Kayla Richardson of the women’s 200 meters race, Mariano Masano of the men’s 1500 meters race, Melvin Nolasco of the men’s javelin throw, and Joida Gagnao of the women’s 5,000-meter race all finished with bronze. 

As for the men’s football tournament, the squad failed to advance to the semifinals, after losing consecutively against Myanmar and Indonesia.

Both women’s and men’s volleyball teams also faced losses to Thailand and Cambodia, respectively. In order to secure a seat in the semis, the men’s team must now beat Thailand. It can be noted that the Philippines beat Thailand in the semis of the 2019 SEA Games, for a podium finish. 

The men’s and women’s 5×5 basketball teams are scheduled to compete starting Monday, May 16.