Wrestling, arnis, judo add to Philippines’ gold medal haul in SEA Games

The Philippines added several gold medals to their haul in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia after strong campaigns in sports such as wrestling, arnis, and judo on Sunday.

Jason Balabal led the country’s medal-rich campaign in wrestling with a gold medal in the men’s Greco Roman 82kg event. Also winning silver medals were Jason Baucas, Noel Norada, and Michael Cater while Chlovelle Van Adolfo delivered a bronze medal.

In arnis, the country picked up two more gold medals in the women’s full contact padded stick event with Jedah Mae Soriano ruling the lightweight category and Charlotte Tolentino winning at bantamweight. Both prevailed over their opponents, 2-0, in the finals of their respective weight classes.

Rena Furukawa, meanwhile, triumphed in the women’s -57kg event in the judo competitions to win another gold medal for the country.

These were on top of three golds from boxing on the same day, courtesy of Carlo Paalam (men’s 54kg), Paul Bascon (men’s 60kg), and Nesthy Petecio (women’s 57kg). Boxing also delivered two silver medals on Sunday, with John Marvin (men’s 80kg) and Norlan Petecio (men’s 67kg) adding to the country’s total.

Elreen Ando won a gold in the women’s 59kg event of weightlifting while Rose Faustino added a silver in the women’s 55kg event. Esports also delivered with Sibol Pilipinas copping the gold medal in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event.

Another silver was delivered by the fencing team of Andrea Sayson, Nicole Cortey, Queen Dalmacio, and Jylyn Nicanor in the women’s sabre team event while bronze medals were won by taekwondo’s Veronica Garces and Nicole Ann McCain, the aerobic gymnastics mixed pair of Carl Tangonan and Charmaine Dolar, and the men’s doubles team of Richard Gonzales and John Russel Misal in table tennis.

As of 9:56 p.m., the Philippines had 46 gold medals, 72 silvers, and 86 bronzes in the Cambodia games, according to the competition's official website. That placed them fifth behind Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and host Cambodia.

Vietnam leads the way with 107 gold, 90 silver, and 94 bronze medals.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News