Triathletes Huelgas, Mangrobang snare gold; Chicano, Adorna take silver

Nikko Huelgas (right) and John Chicano meet at the finish line. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

KUALA LUMPUR— Team Philippines swept through the triathlon competitions on Monday, snaring the gold and silver medals in the men’s and women’s events in Day 3 of the 29th Southeast Asian Games here.

Nikko Huelgas ruled the men’s division anew in one hour, 59 minutes and two seconds while Marion Kim Mangrobang unseated her friend and last year’s winner, Ma. Claire Adorna, for the women’s gold, clocking 2:11:14 or more than seven minutes ahead of Adorna (2:18:58).

John Chicano (2:01:27) and Adorna settled for the silver medals.

Triathlon’s impressive performance at Putrajaya Water Sports Complex triggered a mini windfall for Team Philippines which also picked up four more silvers and four bronzes along the way that sent the country one notch higher to sixth place.

The Philippines now has a total of three golds, six silvers and six bronzes, behind host Malaysia which has pulled away with a 23-19-15 tally; Singapore (13-12-11); Vietnam (8-5-9) Indonesia (7-10-14); and Thailand (6-8-10) as of 9:30 p.m.

Philippine chief of mission Cynthia Carrion expressed delight over the triathletes’ dominance which happened on her birthday.

“They made my day truly special,” said Carrion who is also the head of the gymnastics association.

Fencing chipped in a silver and a bronze when 15-year-old Samantha Kyle Catantan lost in the women’s individual foil final to Singapore’s Amita Marie Nicolette Berthi and Maxine Isabel Esteban, 16, took bronze in the same category at MITEC Hall 6.

At nearby at Hall 5, wushu’s Agatha Wong was good for silver in women’s optional taijijian.

The women’s regu team also got a bronze in sepak takraw at Titiwangsa Stadium, while over at KL Sports City, the men’s and women’s recurve squads submitted a bronze medal each.

Olympian swimmer Jessie Khing Lacuna qualified for the men’s 400-meter freestyle finals along with Roxanne Yu in women’s 100m backstroke. They did not win any medals in the finals late in the day.

The men’s volleyball team succumbed to Vietnam, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20 at the start of the competitions at Hall 11. The more popular women’s team will buckle down to work on Thursday against Malaysia.

In Hall 8 which hosts boxing, three Filipinos made it to the semifinals—bantam Mario Fernandez, light welter Charly Suarez and light heavyweight Marvin John Nobel Tupas, a Filipino-British.