RP bets make final push for modest finish in Laos SEAG

Boxing and wrestling delivered when needed most, giving Team Philippines enough hope of pulling off a modest, yet surprising finish in 25th Laos Southeast Asian Games that ends at Vientiane Friday.

Filipino boxers Bill Vicera and Charly Suarez as well as judoka Jimmy Angana and Jason Balabal set off the stage for another rewarding day for the country as they contributed more than half of the seven gold medals Filipino athletes won on the penultimate day of this 11-nation meet. Along the way, cue artist Rubilen Amit, javelin thrower Danilo Fresnido and wushu artist Mark Eddiva came through with their own golden performances as Team Philippines goes for a shot at a possible fourth place finish going into the final day of competitions. So far, Team Philippines has amassed a total of 37 gold medals for fifth place, but only trails fourth-running Malaysia (40) by three golds and four behind third running Indonesia (41). Behind its 43 gold medal output, the Philippines finished sixth when Thailand hosted the SEA Games two years ago. In a neck-to-neck battle for the overall championship are Thailand and Vietnam, with the 10-time champion Thais leading the Vietnamese, a rising power in the region, by just a mere three gold medals. RP bets are still in contention for gold medals in at least seven final events, but realistically, only stands a fighting chance in tennis (men’s singles and mixed pair) and shooting (25m center fire pistol). Cecil Mamiit and Treat Huey will be fighting in an all-Filipino final for the men’s singles crown while the mixed doubles tandems of Mamiit-Denise Dy and Huey-Rizza Zalameda are in the semis and could even make it an all-Filipino final anew. Veteran shooter Tac Padilla, winner of the 25m rapid fire pistol last Wednesday, is also seeing action in the 25m center fire pistol along with Ronald Hejastro and Robert Donalvo. "We will be fighting for no. 3 overall until our last breath," said Team Philippines Chef De Mission Mario Tanchangco. "The spirit of our athletes is very high now." Also lauding the efforts of the Filipino athletes was Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Harry Angping. "I congratulate them (Filipino athletes) for proving me wrong on my projections," said the former Manila Rep., humble enough to admit about his mistake of predicting a 32-gold medal output for the Philippines. "The resiliency and fighting spirit of the Filipino athletes has been shown once again." All seven gold medal winners Thursday typified those exact words of the PSC chairman. Vicera (46kg) and Suarez (57kg) pulled off contrasting victories against separate opponents as boxing capped its campaign here with a total of five gold medals. Angana (66kg) and Balabal (85kg) also boosted wrestling’ stocks, hiking the sports’ gold output to three after Margarito Angana scored the breakthrough win in the 55kg class (freestyle). Amit for her part, joined the ranks of Filipino double gold winners after a 9-3 drubbing of Singapore’s Charlene Chai in the women’s 9-ball final to add to her 8-ball crown. Swimmer Miguel Molina and golfer Chihiro Ikeda were the other double gold winners for the country. Fresnido, meanwhile, threw the javelin to a distance of 72.93m on his third of six attempts to bag the gold and erase the old RP record of 70.70m set by Benjamin Cawicaan in 1999. His victory gave the RP track and field team a total of seven gold medals, the most by any local sports associations. Eddiva got his gold in wushu’s sanshou event (65 kg.). However, there were also disappointments for Team Philippines. Two-time Olympian Harry Tañamor lost in the men’s light-flyweight division finals, Mercedita Manipol-Fetalvero – a bronze medalist in the 5000m run – claimed a silver in the 10000m, the same medal won by the Mamiit-Huey and Dy-Zalameda pairs in tennis doubles. Wushu artists Mary Jane Estimar (under52kg) and Benjie Rivera (under 56), judoka Ruth Dugaduga (70-78kg), freestyle wrestler Paolo Delos Santos (50kg) and pencak silat’s Nurhabir Sansis Is (Class I: 85-90kg) also pocketed silver medals. Settling for the bronze medals were judokas Karen Ann Solomon (63-70kg) and Rick Senales (81-90kg), cue artist Dennis Orcollo (9-ball) and wrestler Roque Mana-ay Jr. (60kg). – GMANews.TV