Angel Gwen Derla wins the Philippines’ second gold in the SEA Games 2023. –JUNE NAVARRO
PHNOM PENH—Angel Gwen Derla delivered a second gold medal for the Philippines on Thursday in the women’s bamboo shield form of kun bokator at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
The 19-year-old from Cabuyao, Laguna temporarily shifted from pencak silat and tried her hand in the Cambodian indigenous sport, seizing the win with 8.5 points to frustrate the host country’s bet at the Chroy Changvar Hall here.
Cambodia’s Chanchhorvy Puth (8.47) settled for the silver after her nearly two-minute routine and Deslya Anggraini of Indonesia placed third (8.42) to reach the podium.
“I really wanted to represent our country by competing here in the SEA Games. Through sheer hard work, I was able to deliver despite the fact that I only trained for two months,’’ said Alcance.
Mark James Lacao joined Alcance in the medal tally with a silver in the men’s bamboo shield form while Alyssa Kylie Mahinay took the bronze in the female bokator spirit form.
Lacao assembled 7.75 points after his routine, a far cry from the 8.25 tally of gold winner Titsovathanak Kim of Cambodia.
Rhichein Yosorez also claimed a silver with 7.33 points in the women’s bare hand form behind Cambodia’s Sanhchana Yuos (7.75).
Overall, the Philippines has collected two golds, two silvers and three bronzes ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony at Morodok Techo Stadium.