Sepak bronze caps worst PH finish in SEAG

NAYPYITAW—A Philippine team that struggled to catch a break right at the outset of the 27th Southeast Asian Games here limped home to a historic low—a performance that was expected all along from a contingent that ironically put premium on quality over quantity.

With 29 gold, 34 silver and 38 bronze medals, the lean 208-athlete contingent again came to grief as regional heavyweights Thailand and Vietnam flexed their muscles along with host Burma (Myanmar), whose rise to second place was marred by accusations of hometown verdicts in several subjective sports.

The Philippines’ gold-medal output was the lowest since 1999, when a small contingent collected just 20 in Brunei. The 1989 PH team to Kuala Lumpur bagged 26, but just like in Brunei, the Filipinos finished in fifth spot.

The last PH medal —a bronze—came in sepak takraw Sunday when Emmanuel Escote, Jason Hurte and Rhey Jhey Ortuoste reached the semifinals, where it lost to Laos, 1-2.

Thailand, striking big in medal-rich athletics and swimming, secured the overall crown with 107 gold medals, followed by Burma (86) and Vietnam (73). Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, the biennial Games’ next host in 2015, rounded out the Top 6.

Already dealt a blow when Olympic sports like gymnastics and tennis were removed from the SEA Games calendar and replaced with indigenous disciplines like chinlone, voviname and kempo, there was no doubting the Filipino athletes’ hunger and determination to battle through the odds.

A day after the opening ceremonies, Jasmine Alkhaldi also had a gold medal taken away from her when the swimming jury ordered a reswim of the 100m freestyle due to a false start. Alkhaldi eventually settled for the bronze.

Athletics proved to be the biggest contributor to the PH coffers with six gold medals, while taekwondo chipped in four and boxing and wushu added three apiece. Golf produced a couple of golds like cycling, billiards and judo.

Rowing, muay, archery and karatedo all added a gold each for the country, which finished sixth overall in Palembang, Indonesia, two years ago.

Sinag Pilipinas also lived up to its lofty billing by winning the men’s basketball gold. Perlas Pilipinas managed a silver for the second straight SEA Games.

Emerging as the biggest stars of the PH delegation were double-gold winners Archand Christian Bagsit, who copped the 400m gold and anchored the 4x400m relay team in athletics, and Princess Superal, whose golden effort in golf’s individual play boosted the country to the gold in the team event.

The country sent token delegations in equestrian, badminton and shooting and failed to pick up medals from these events, just like in women’s football.

Wrestling, tipped to deliver at least three golds, managed only two silvers, even as sailing, canoeing, chess, pencak silat, weightlifting, swimming and table tennis also missed out on the golds.

Alkhaldi’s gold was one of six the country lost, which would have been enough to lift the Filipinos to sixth spot. Despite their clear superiority, Nesthy Petecio and Wilfredo Lopez went 0-2 against boxers from the host country.

Muay warrior Philip Delarmino was robbed of the gold after losing to the Myanmar bet he dominated in the finals.