Watanabe retains judo crown, gives PH its sixth gold in SEA Games

By: June Navarro - 10 years ago

Kiyomi Watanabe. FILE PHOTO

Filipino-Japenese Kiyomi Watanabe ended a fruitful day for the Philippine campaign after retaining her title in judo.

Clad in a white judogi, last year’s Asian Junior Champion scored an ippon in the 3:36 mark to overwhelm Senatham Orapin of Thailand in the women’s 57-63 kg finale.

Fencers Nathaniel Perez, Louie Brennan Wayne and Wilfred Richard Curioso concluded their stint with a silver medal after Singapore defeated the Philippines, 45-40, in the men’s team foil.

Roughly 45 minutes later Harlene Raguin, Anna Estimada and Hanniel Abella also lost their bid against Vietnam, 45-28, in the women’s team epee championship.

Swimmers Jasmine Alkhaldi and Joshua Hall produced the first pair of medals in the pool—a couple of bronzes in the women’s 50-meter butterfly and men’s 100m breaststroke at the OCBC Aquatics Center.

The Philippines now totes a 6-8-14, gold-silver-bronze tally. CFC