Lizardo, Alora win two of Philippines’ five gold medals in Day 4 of 26th SEAG

Cibubur, Jakarta – Japoy Lizardo, the poster boy of taekwondo back home, and Kirstie Alora turned back separate foes as the Philippines closed out action in the sport in the 26th Southeast Asian Games with two golden feats yesterday.

Lizardo, who as a kid appeared in several commercials in action on the mat, won a tightly contested 58kg-under division final with Jerranat Nakaviroj of Indonesia for the third Philippine gold in the sport after the poomsae team and Camille Manalo delivered last Sunday.

Alora scored on sudden death against another Indon Eka Sahara for the 73-kg. gold at the Popki Sport Mall here, raising the Philippine total to four gold medals to finish third overall in the event just behind the seven of Thailand and the six of Indonesia.

The Philippine jins also pocketed three silver and five bronze medals.

Lizardo actually won two straight tight bouts to win, first dispatching of Singapore’s Jason Junwei Tan by connecting on a well-timed head kick that decked his foe with 11 seconds left to advance.

There were three Filipinos in the finals of the last day of action, but 2009 gold medallist Alex Briones, who drew a bye and was seeded directly into the gold medal match in the over-87kg. division, took a 2-5 loss at the hands of Indon Rizal Samsir and settled for the silver.

The two taekwondo golds were part of the five gilts won by the Philippines yesterday to improve to 13-9-26 (gold-silver-bronze) in the medal tally.

Over in West Java, Walbert Mendoza captured the individual sabre gold in men’s fencing after turning back Vietnam’s Than An, 15-14.

It was the first gold medal for the Philippine delegation in West Java after failed attempts in canoe/kayak, rowing and cycling.

Frederick Ong also rolled a six-game series of 1,386 pinfalls to run away with the men’s singles gold medal in bowling.

Iris Ranola was the fifth to contribute a gold by topping the 8-ball female singles.

PH CAGERS WIN

Meanwhile, the Sinag Pilipinas scored a second straight blowout by routing Vietnam in convincing fashion, 107-53, yesterday at the Britama Arena.

The Sinag controlled the first period as they set the tone early with a 32-4 advantage. That lead eventually ballooned to 59-23 at halftime as Sinag cruised to their second win in as many games.

The squad, which is composed of collegiate stars from the UAAP and NCAA, won over Cambodia, 127-68, in their opening game.

Former University of the Visayas standout and now Ateneo ace Greg Slaughter top scored for the Philippines with 20 points.

The Philippines will play Thailand today for their last assignment in the group stages. The top two teams from each group will go on to compete in the semifinals. /inquirer with report from correspondent jonas panerio