Asusano, Severino hammer out three-gold feats as Team PH betters 2015 mark

KUALA LUMPUR—Thrower Cendy Asusano and chess player Sander Severino completed their own golden trebles Friday to boost Team Philippines’ gold count in the Asean Para Games here.

Asusano, a first-timer in these Games, and Severino joined sprinter Cielo Honasan as three-gold winners in this biennial meet.

The 27-year-old Asusano registered 5.50m for the gold in the F54 class of shotput. Teammate Maritess Burce took her second bronze by logging 4.85m. Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Ngoc bagged the silver with a 5.06m.

Asusano also captured golds in javelin Monday and discus throw Thursday.

Severino, meanwhile, won his third gold when he, Henry Lopez and Felix Aguilera bagged the team rapid title for the physically impaired by amassing 9.5 points, a point ahead of Indonesia’s Maksum Firdaus, Azhar Panjaitan and Sutikno.

Severino also won golds in individual and team standard.

Swimmer Ernie Gawilan added another gold for Team Philippines, which hiked its total to 19 golds in the penultimate day of competition. With a day to go, the country already eclipsed its 16-gold haul of 2015.

Indonesia virtually clinched the overall title with a current total of 96 golds, 55 silvers and 39 bronzes while host Malaysia is at No. 2 with a 78-73-61 (gold-silver-bronze) mark.

Gawilan struck gold in the 200m individual medley for SM8 in 2:50.13. It is his second gold medal of the meet, on top of a silver and a bronze.

Asusano had another reason to celebrate Friday aside from her latest gold medal.

Her boyfriend, Juanito Mingarine, father to their 3-year-old daughter Chantal, helped the wheelchair basketball squad that defeated Myanmar, 49-41, for the 5-on-5 division bronze at Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre.

Marcos Rabasto, Jr., Alfie Cabanog, Rene Macabenguil and Marlon Nacita were the other members of that squad.