No surprise: PH athletes rule PNG

FILE — Kunanon Sukkaew of Thailand beats Archand Christian Bagsit of the Philippines to the finish line for the gold in the 28th SEA Games Men’s 4 x 400m relay finals held at the National Stadium, Singapore Sports Hub. The Philippines led by Bagsit were the former SEA Games champions of the event at the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar.

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Team Philippines at least got a passing grade.

The Nationals imposed their will against regional contenders in the PSC-POC Philippine National Games Finals, bagging 82 gold medals, leaving Cebu City and Baguio City way behind with 20 and 21 triumphs, respectively.

Southeast Asian Games champion Archand Bagsit displayed the best form among the PH Athletes when he ruled the men’s 200-meter dash in 21.39 seconds. But it was still a shade slower than the national mark of 21.17 by Ralph Soguilon.

It was a 1-2-3 finish by the PH tracksters with Edgar Alejan and Joan Caido placing second and third, respectively, at the close of the week-long event at sun-baked Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center.

National Karen Janario ruled the 200-meter dash for her second gold of the meet but her 25.33 seconds was almost two seconds slower than long-time PH mark of Lydia de Vega (23.35 seconds).

“There are not many upsets but no one has beat his or her personal best,” said PSC Commissioner Jolly Gomez. “I don’t know if it’s the timing or the weather, but they’re (tracksters) doing badly.”

Gomez said the national team generally did well but “it was wake-up call for the national athletes to level up their game, and it’s an indicator of the level of competitions in the PNG because more and more athletes are getting better.”

Cebu City tallied 20-15-22 (gold-silver-bronze), while Baguio City had 19-8-7.