Kurt Barbosa, Samuel Morrison lead taekwondo's SEAG gold rush

It was a productive night for the Philippine taekwondo team on Saturday as they got at least four gold medals in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.

Tokyo Olympian Kurt Barbosa won his third straight SEA Games gold medal in the biennial meet's 54 kg event as he defeated Thailand's Ramnarong Sawekwiharee. Barbosa also won in the 2019 and 2021 editions of the SEA Games.

Samuel Morrison, meanwhile, won his fourth SEA Games gold medal after winning against Indonesia's Nicholas Armanto. Morrison previously won gold medals in the 68kg (2015), 74kg (2017), 80 kg (2019) events of the regional tourney.

Rio Olympian Kirstie Alore, on the other hand, won her fourth SEAG gold as she emerged victorious over Vietnam's Thi Huong Nguyen in the women's 73 kg event. Alora previously won the gold medals in 2005 (59kg), 2011, and 2013.

Meanwhile, Arven Alcantara added his own gold as he won over Thailand's Chaichon Cho in the men's 68kg division.

Veronica Garces and Nicole Mc Cann also claimed silver medals in the under 46kg and under 57kg of the women's taekwondo events.

The Philippines currently has 37 gold medals.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA Integrated News