Combat sports add to PHL’s medal haul on Day 2 of SEA Games

Combat sports added more medals to the Philippines’ haul on the second day of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

2020 Tokyo Olympian and three-time SEA Games gold medalist Kurt Barbosa secured a bronze medal in the taekwondo men’s under-54 kg event, despite falling to Nguyen Hong Trong in the semifinals.

Jiujitsu athletes Vito Luzuriaga and Marc Alexander Lim also bagged bronze medals in the men’s ne-waza 85kg and 69kg events, respectively.

Mixed martial artists Jean Claude Saclag (men’s modern 65kg), Gina Araos (women’s special value modern 54kg), and Denzel John Alipio (men’s modern 60kg) likewise claimed bronze medals, while the trio of Felix Calipusan, Jeremy Laurence Nopre, and Jodan Macalipay earned bronze in the men’s karate kata team event.

Earlier, cyclist Mark Louwel Valderama delivered the country’s first medal of the day with a bronze in the men’s cross-country eliminator.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News