Sudden change of wind direction favors PH sailors

SINGAPORE—The direction of the wind suddenly changed and so were the fortunes of the Philippine men’s keelboat team.

Trailing the highly favored Singaporeans throughout, the trio of skipper Ridgely Balladares, Rommel Chavez and Richly Magsanai were blessed in the men’s match racing keelboat gold-medal race Sunday when the sailors of the host country got stuck in still water and failed to adjust to the wind.

READ: SEA Games: PH sailors best Singapore for gold

Singaporeans Stanley Chan, Anthony Kiong and Colin Ng lamented the outcome of the race on Marina Bay that gave the Filipinos their only victory in the sport.

“It was really hard with the wind coming through the buildings. We didn’t have much luck in the race,’’ said Ng, whose team-up with Chang and Kiong earlier defeated Balladares and company in the male fleet racing keelboat finale.

The Philippine sailing squad, which arrived here two weeks before the official opening of the Games on May 21, went back to Manila Monday with one gold and one silver medal.

Although one win short of their twin gold target, the efforts of Filipino sailors have helped the delegation to at least match its 29-gold collection in 2013 Burma (Myanmar).

“I commend them for the great performance. They delivered when we badly needed the gold,’’ said chef de mission Julian Camacho. CFC