PHNOM PENH – The Philippine pencak silat team concluded its 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games campaign with two silver and eight bronze medals – a haul that still exceeded expectations despite missing a gold.
Dines Dumaan fell short of giving the country what could have been its first and only gold in the sport after bowing to Indonesia’s Khoirudin Mustakim in the men’s tanding class A (45-50kg) at the Chroy Changvar Convention Center here on Wednesday.
“As a team for the 32nd SEA Games, we did well. More than what we expected,” Philippine Pencak Silat Association secretary general Inier Candor said in a news release.
Candor, though, could not help but feel bad for Dumaan, saying he drew the short end of the stick from the judges’ scoring.
Dumaan, a 2017 SEA Games gold medalist, lost 25-43 to Mustakim, who ruled the same event in the World Pencak Silat Championship last year in Malaysia.
“We feel there is a certain bias towards Indonesia. But in every fight, there is a winner and a loser,” Candor said.
The duo of Alfau Jan Abad and Almohaidib Abad (men’s artistic ganda double) delivered the Philippines’ other pencak silat silver for the day.
Pencak silat somehow still contributed to the Philippines’ gold charge, with its own Angel Derla scooping up a kun bokator gold in the women’s bamboo shield form event.
"We'll do harder, train harder, the athletes will work harder so that next time, we'll make sure that we’ll return home with a gold,” Candor said.
Golfers shut out of medals
The Philippines went medal-less in the individual event of the golf competitions for the second straight edition of the SEA Games, with Rianne Malixi ending up tied for fourth in women’s play and Enrique Dimayuga finishing joint fifth in the men’s side here Wednesday.
Thailand’s rising star, Eila Galitsky, lived up to the hype and bagged the women’s gold with a solid closing five-under 67 as she wrapped up the 54-hole tournament with a 14-under 202, edging Malaysia’s Ng Jing Xuen by one at the Garden City course.
Xuen stayed just a stroke adrift of Galitsky by matching the latter’s backside 33 then bounced back from a miscue on No. 4 with three birdies in the next four holes to remain in the gold medal hunt. But she flubbed her birdie bid on the last hole and Galitsky matched her closing par to clinch the victory.
Galitsky added the SEA Games gold to her title romp in the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship in Singapore last March, with the 16-year-old star, who holds dual nationality of Thailand and Canada and is billed as the next Atthaya Thitikul, a former world No. 1, coming into this week’s event brimming with confidence following an impressive tied for 28th finish in the LPGA Tour’s first major – the Chevron Championship in Texas last month.
Xuen also shot a 67 for silver on a 203 total while Foong Zi Yu, also from Malaysia, captured the bronze with a 208 aggregate, also after a 67 in sweltering conditions.
Malixi, at joint fifth seven shots off Galitsky after 36 holes, failed to get going with a one-birdie, one-bogey round at the back but the ICTSI-backed shotmaker birdied Nos. 3, 5, and 8 to fashion out a 69 for joint fourth at 211 with Thai Navaporn Soontreeyapas, who also closed out with a three-under card.
Badminton team bags bronze
The Philippines bowed to Indonesia 0-3 in the semifinals and settled for the bronze medal in the women’s team event of badminton.
Mikaela Joy de Guzman yielded to Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi, 21-13, 21-5, in the first singles before Airah Mae Nicole Albo and Thea Marie Pomar succumbed to Febriana Kusuma and Amallia Pratiwi, 21-11, 21-12, in doubles play.
Bianca Carlos tried to keep the team’s bid alive in the second singles but lost steam in the second set against Ester Wardoyo, 21-19, 21-9.
She said the team is still proud of their achievement despite falling short of making it into the gold-medal round.
“We feel very blessed at this point, to be able to match up with them and play against powerhouse teams that used to crush us before,” Carlos said, noting their stunning 3-0 win against Malaysia for a place in the semis.
“Even if we lost 3-0 to Indonesia, we still played the best we could, so it’s really an improvement for Team Philippines,” she said.
This is the first SEA Games medal for the Philippines since Ronel Estanislao and Joper Escueta bagged the men’s doubles bronze in the 2015 games in Singapore.
Action in the men’s and women’s singles events fires off on Friday. (PNA)
