Jeson Patrombon of the Philippines hits a return against Indonesia’s Christopher Rungkat during the final round of the Men’s Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone group II tennis competition in Jakarta in this September 16,2012 file photo.
SINGAPORE—Ruben Gonzales and Jeson Patrombon bagged a silver in tennis and pencak silat delivered three bronze medals on Saturday when the gold medal turned elusive for Team Philippines in the 28th Southeast Asian Games.
Gonzales and Patrombon fell to grizzled international campaigners Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana in the men’s doubles final, 6-4, 6-4, at the Kallang courts where two gold medals could be won on Sunday also in the doubles competitions.
Francis Aaron Agojo failed to cap the day with a gold medal, losing 9-23 to Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Duy in the finals of taekondo’s men’s 58-kg class at the Singapore Expo Hall.
The other taekwondo bet, Levita Ronna Ilao, overwhelmed Laos’s Alisa Pamyasyli, 12-0, in the quarterfinals, but could not get past Thailand’s Chanatip Sonkham, 11-5, in the semifinals to settle for a bronze medal.
Ibnohasim Alshamier, Juanillo Balluesta and Clyde Joy Baria each settled for bronze medals in pencak silat to contribute to the Philippine haul that was halted at 24 gold medals with 32 silvers and 59 bronzes.
The Filipino pencak silat athletes all lost to Indonesians in the semifinals all via 5-0 scores—Ibnohasim to Awaluddin Nur in men’s 45 to 50 kgs, Balluesta to Trui Juanda Samsul Bahar in men’s 80-85 kgs and Wewey Wita in women’s 55 to 60 kgs.
Thailand and host Singapore continued to alternate for the Nos. 1 and 2 positions on the medal tally board with three days to go in the games. The Thais returned to the top with 76 golds, two more than the Singaporeans who dominated on the first week of the games they are hosting for the second time after 1993.
Vietnam (65), Malaysia (44) and Indonesia (37) took the next three places on the board and are no longer expected to rock the standings until the urn is extinguished to signal the end of the games on Tuesday.
But hopes for more gold medals remained for Team Philippines.
BUSY SUNDAY FOR PH
On Sunday, focus would be on tennis, archery, cycling and wakeboarding where Filipino athletes are in contention for the mints.
Filipino-American Denise Dy and and Treat Huey will defend their mixed doubles crown after subduing Thailand’s veteran and former world-ranked player Tamarine Tansugarn and Sanchai Ratiwatana, 6-2, 6-3, in the semifinals.
It would be a busy—and definitely exhausting—for Dy who will team up with Filipino-German Katharina Lehnert in the women’s doubles finals against Thailand’s Sonchat Ratiwana and Peantarn Plipuech.
The mixed doubles gold medal play will be at 10 a.m. and the women’s doubles finals will be at 12:30 p.m.
Amaya Paz Cojuangco targets the women’s individual gold medal of archery against Malaysia’s Fatin Nurfatellah Mat Salleh at the Kallan Cricket field.
Cojuangco, who snatched five gold medals in the recent Asia Cup in Bangkok, quietly worked her way to the gold medal match on Friday. She beat Myanmar’s Yah Yaw Sein, 143-132, in the
eliminations; disposed of veteran compatriot Joan Chan Tabanag, 137-131, in the quarterfinals, and booted out Thailand’s Nareumon Junsook, 141-135, in the semifinals.
Cojuangco is favored over Mat Salleh, whose best score in the games so far was 143, which she used in beating Indonesia’s Rona Siska Sari (137) in the semifinals.
Cycling will try to give Team Philippines another gold medal after Marella Vania Salamat’s mint in women’s individual time trial as George Oconer Jr., Gerry Aquino Jr., Jan Paul Morales, Rustom Lim,
Ronald Oranza and Mark Galedo competes in the men’s road race finals at Marina Bay.
In wakeboarding, Mark Howard Griffith and Maiguel Jawn Selga advanced to the medal round of the combined team event for two more potential medals for Team Philippines
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
