SEAG: Marestella Torres, women's poomsae team bag PHL's 1st two golds

Long jumper Marestella Torres and the poomsae trio of Rani Ann Ortega, Camille Alarilla and Janice Lagman gave the country its first two gold medals of the Philippines' campaign in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia. Torres successfully defended her women's long jump title in athletics action at the Jakabaring Sports Complex shattering the SEA Games record of 6.68 she set in 2009. Ortega, Alarilla and Lagman also made their way on top of the podium wresting the women's poomsae team event defeating their lone opponent Vietnam for the title. Torres claimed her best leap in the third jump with a distance of 6.71 meters beating Maria Londa of Indonesia, who only recorded a 6.47-meter jump. Katherine Santos made big strides in her first SEA Games as she recorded a bronze medal in the long jump event with a leap of 6.25 meters. The Philippine poomsae team scored 8.26 points in their routine to beat the Vietnamese trio of Tuyet Van Chau, Thi Le Kim Nguyen and Thi Thu Ngan Nguyen, who tallied 8.21 points. Meanwhile, cyclist Joey Barba earned the Philippines its first medal in the SEA Games by taking home the silver in the men's mountain bike downhill. Barba missed the gold medal by a hairline as he was beaten by Purnomo of Indonesia. The hometown bet clocked two minutes, 31.45 seconds with Barba timing 2:32.44 in the 1.5-kilometer course. Two more medals were collected by taekwondo with Marvin Gabriel Vidal taking the silver medal in the poomsae individual. Vidal also took a bronze together with Shaneen Ched Sia in the poomsae mixed pair. — JVP/TJD, GMA News