Article by Arabella Balderama

After two weeks of roundabout games in different sports, the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games finally came to an end, with the Philippines standing firm on the grounds of Filipino delegates representing the nation.

The Philippines hauled a total of 260 medals – 58 gold, 85 silver, and 117 bronze, which, by far, is their best overseas performance since 1987. This record landed the country an overall fifth place amongst all the other participating nations.

Pursuing the Tallies

The wave of medals continued as Eric Cray remained the king of men’s 400m hurdles for six straight years, defeating his opponents with a record of 50.03 seconds, while Agatha Wong sealed the gold in wushu despite her strenuous balancing of sports and medical school.

Still in athletics, Robyn Brown failed to clinch the gold in women’s 400m hurdles, yielding to Vietnam’s Thi Huyen Nguyen. Sarah Dequinan of the women’s heptathlon and Ronne Malipay of the men’s triple jump won silvers as well.

To conclude the Philippines’ athletics campaign and a decade-long gold drought, a 4x400m relay crew consisting of Frederick Ramirez, Umajesty Williams, Joyme Sequita, and Michael Carlo del Prado struck gold, conquering Thailand by just one hundredth of a second. 

37-year-old Josh Arcilla kept up with the campaign after ruling men’s individual singles, bagging the Philippines’ third soft tennis gold in SEA Games. Despite cramps and the scorching Cambodian heat, Arcilla beat Indonesia’s Muhammad Hemat Anugerah.

Janry Ubas and Aries Toledo exhibited their capabilities a day prior and rallied for decathlon titles, bringing home silver and bronze medals, respectively. 

Meanwhile, in the women’s individual singles soft tennis finals, Bambi Zoleta secured a silver medal, bowing down to Indonesia’s Dwi Rahayu Pitri. 

Likewise, pencak silat star Dines Dumaan settled for silver following a loss against Indonesia’s Khoirudin Mustakim in the men’s tanding class A (45-50kg).

Filipino delegates of cricket women’s six-a-side, sepak takraw men’s, and hook takraw women’s also earned silvers.

Athletics standouts Natalie Uy of women’s pole vault and John Cabang of men’s 110m hurdles, alongside swimming aces Jarod Hatch of men’s 50m butterfly and the quartet of Xiandi Chua, Teia Salvino, Chloe Isleta, and Jasmine Alkhaldi in women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, all earned bronze titles.

Top-notch taekwondo athletes: Jins Kirstie Alora, Samuel Morrison, Kurt Barbosa, and Arven Alcantara bagged four golds for the Philippines. Morrison emerged in the men’s 87kg, while Alora excelled in the women’s 73kg.

Barbosa then maintained a spectacular performance in the men’s 54kg, with Alcantara breaking through at his fourth SEA Games attempt for gold.

Poomsae squad consisting of Jocel Lyn Ninobla, Nicole Labayne, Aidaine Laxa, and Patrick King Perez also snagged golds, with Perez finally capturing his SEA Games individual title after three tries and the remaining trio ruling the team-recognized competition.

Additionally, in the men’s recognized event, Perez, Joaquin Dominic Tuzon, and Ian Matthew Corton won silver. Ninobla and Corton then claimed bronze for mixed recognized pair, with the team of Juvenile Crisostomo, Kobe Macario, Zyka Santiago, Jordan Dominguez, and Darius Venerable winning the same distinction in mixed freestyle.

The men’s doubles finals in tennis were then ruled by the duo of Francis Casey Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales, capping gold medals as they beat Indonesia’s Christopher Benjamin Rungkat and Nathan Anthony Barki, 2-6, 7-5, 10-5.

Regarding online games, Sibol, the Philippines’ esports team, clinched their second gold after sweeping Malaysia in the men’s Mobile Legends event, adding to their bronze medal from a Valorant mixed team event.

Olympians Carlo Paalam (men’s 54kg) and Nesthy Petecio (women’s 57kg), alongside SEA Games first-timer Paul Julyfer Bascon (men’s 60kg) and Ian Clark Bautista (men’s 51kg), bagged golds in their respective boxing divisions.

Rogen Ladon lost his bid in the men’s 51kg championship, settling for silver. The same thing happened to Irish Magno as the 31-year-old boxer has yet to gain a SEA Games title after yielding to Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong in the women’s 54kg class.

Elreen Ando stepped up in weightlifting women’s 59 kg and successfully won her first SEA Games gold, dethroning two-time defending champion Hoang Thi Duyen of Vietnam. Subsequently, Angeline Colonia (women’s 45kg), Lovely Inan (women’s 49kg), John Ceniza (men’s 61kg), and Rosalinda Faustino (women’s 55kg) streaked four silvers for the Philippines.

Judo and arnis contributed three golds in the bargain as Rena Furukawa won judoka’s women’s 57kg match and Charlotte Ann Tolentino, alongside Jedah-Mae Soriano, secured the titles of women’s bantamweight and lightweight full contact padded stick events, respectively.

Veteran wrestler Jason Balabal’s first golden moment finally came after waiting for over a decade. The 36-year-old wrestler, who was famous for bearing the Philippine flag while wearing a bahag back in SEA Games 2013, reigned in the men’s Greco Roman 82kg class, holding off Singapore’s Aryan Bin Azman and Cambodia’s Keo Sophak.

Gilas Pilipinas concluded their campaign with a gold, reclaiming their glory after holding off Cambodia over an 80-69 win. This comeback followed their broken streak against Indonesia last year, marking the last SEA Games of Coach Chot Reyes.

Gilas Women, on the contrary, failed to secure their three-peat title bid as Malaysia dominated the match, falling short on a 63-77 loss and bringing home silvers. The team wrapped up their campaign with a 5-1 record, led by Janine Pontejos with game-high 24 points.

Weightlifting prodigy Vanessa Sarno succeeded in defending her title in the women’s 71 kg category. The 19-year-old set a groundbreaking record of 225kg – nearly 20kg more than the 208kg of Thailand’s silver medalist Thipwara Chontavin.

Behind the Triumphs

Notable fencer Sam Catantan fell through her title bid in women’s foil individual as she suffered a knee injury before her final match against Singapore’s Maxine Wong. Catantan opted to surrender because her injury might get worse.

The Philippine Azkals ended their campaign at the bottom of the standings with a devastating loss against semi-finals-bound Myanmar. Similarly, the women’s football team failed to earn a spot in the semis despite winning over Vietnam.

A bronze-bid heartbreak concluded the rally of the Philippine women’s volleyball team after falling short against Indonesia for the third consecutive time. With the four sets loss, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, the Filipinas remained in fourth place.

Alyssa Valdez, the national team’s captain who suffered an injury in 2022, admitted that she desires to “contribute more” after the defeat, adding her suggestions of having a good program and better scheduling that would aid the team in reaching heights.