Filipino athlete Samuel German wins silver at the men’s modern pentathlon beach laser competition of the 30th SEA Games in Subic, Zambales on Thursday, December 5, 2019. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Samuel German saw how fellow Filipino bet Princess Arbilon struggled against the field and made adjustments of his own.
The Ormoc City-based German didn’t let the pressure and distractions get in the way to claim the silver medal in the beach laser-run portion of modern pentathlon Thursday in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Subic Bay Boardwalk.
“I felt sad for Princess and told myself that I had to get onto that podium to redeem the team,’’ said German in Filipino, one of the aces in the national pentathlon pool formed by sportsman-actor and Ormoc City mayor Richard Gomez in his hometown.
Muhammad Taufik of Indonesia ruled the event in 13 minutes and 2.24 seconds that saw the participants shoot a target from 10 meters five times before breaking into an 800-meter run.
Taufik proved superior after doing the routine four times with his challengers.
“I had to relax while trying to be accurate in shooting at the same time. It was also hard to run on the sand, so I think I also did well in the run,’’ said German.
The 18-year-old pocketed the silver in 13:27.29 and Ming Wei Ong placed third (13:34.28). Arbilon earlier wound up fourth after clocking 16:44.94.
Indonesia actually made it a golden double with Dea Salsabila grabbing the gold in the women’s race in 15 minutes and 23.59 seconds. Natpapat Sangngio of Thailand checked in second (16:17.69) and Kaixin Tung of Singapore arrived third (16:29.22).
Filipino pentathletes will plunge into action Friday in the beach triathle segment of modern pentathlon, which made its debut this year in the 11-nation sportsfest.