THE PHILIPPINES’ Dustin Jacob Mella, Rodolfo Reyes Jr. and Raphael Enrico Mella (from left) execute their gold-medal routine in Friday’s men’s poomsae team competition in taekwondo at the 28th SEA Games in Singapore. RAFFY LERMA
SINGAPORE—Taekwondo’s men’s poomsae team and trackster Christopher Ulboc saved the day for an embattled Team Philippines that suffered heavy setbacks on different fronts Friday.
The trio of Dustin Jacob Mella, Raphael Enrico Mella and Rodolfo Reyes Jr., delivered the gold that eluded their women counterparts in the discipline with a snappy, awe-inspiring show at the 28th Southeast Asian Games here.
Later in the afternoon, Ulboc topped the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8 minutes and 59.07 seconds for the gold, besting Vietnam’s Pham Tien San (8:59.90) and Indonesia’s Atjong Purwanto (9:06.41).
The 24-year-old Ulboc kept his torrid pace on the way to victory, just before the massive retractable roof of Singapore Sports Hub stadium was shut close due to an early-evening drizzle.
Apart from the two golds, the Philippines also nailed two silvers through Rinna Babanto in poomsae’s women’s individual event and flyweight Irene Bermejo in the women’s taekwondo, plus 13 bronzes.
Picking up the bronze were the Babanto-led women’s poomsae trio, athletics’ Narcisa Atienza in the women’s heptathlon, Edgardo Alejan in the men’s 400 meters, Donovant Arriola in the men’s long jump and Jessica Barnard in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, Jeson Patrombon and Katharina Lehnert in men’s and women’s tennis singles, the men’s trap team of Eric Ang, Hagen Topacio and Miguel Laperal, wakeboarders Maiquel Jawn Selga and Mark Howard Griffin, taekwondo’s Jenar Torillos in the men’s finweight class, bowling’s women’s teams of five and men’s squash team.
Kevin Ferrer had 19 points and Mark Belo added 15 as Sinag Pilipinas massacred Timor Leste, 126-21, later in the night to sweep its group in basketball.
The twin golds came after Babanto lost the gold in a controversial decision in poomsae’s women’s individual event, and the trio of Babanto, Jocel Lyn Ninobla and Juven Crisostomo settled for the bronze in the team event.
The poomsae women’s stunning defeats only fired up the men’s trio which tallied 7.850 points, upending Vietnam (7.720) and Indonesia (7.505).
Bermejo lost to Vietnam’s Truong Thi Kim, 19-7, in the final. Earlier, she subdued Xin Wei Chew of Singapore, 29-5, in the semifinals.
Atienza compiled 4,798 points to settle for the bronze in women’s heptathlon won by Thailand’s Sunisa Khotseemueang (5,396) over compatriot Kotchakorn Khamrueangsri (5,280).
In archery at Kallang Cricket Field, only Amaya Cojuangco survived to fight for the gold in the women’s individual compound. The 29-year-old scored three straight wins, including one over the veteran Joann Tabanag, 137-131.
Patrombon fell to Thailand’s Warit Sornbutnark, 6-4, 6-1, while Lehnert lost to Thai top seed Varatchaya Wong-teanchai, 7-5, 6-1, in the semifinals.