The country’s bid to barge into the Top 5 in the team standings received yet another serious blow yesterday after the Philippines managed to win just two gold medals after six days of intense competition in the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.
The dismal harvest kept the Philippines in 6th place with a 16-27-32 (gold-silver-bronze) haul even as host Indonesia continues to pummel the opposition by striking in all fronts to pad its tally to 221 medals including 87 golds, 65 silvers and 69 bronzes.
Rower Nestor Ison Cordov opened the Filipinos sixth-day bid on a bright note by bagging the gold medal in the men’s M1X event. The country’s men’s LM2X pair of Edgar Recano Ilas and Alvin Lopez Ampost also contributed a bronze.
Later, the Philippine women’s softball squad crushed the upset bid of their Indonesian counterparts by posting an easy 5-1 victory in the softball final held at the Jakabaring Sports Complex.
Then the golds stopped coming in as the Filipinos managed to add just five more silvers and three bronzes.
Eric Panique settled for the silver medal in men’s marathon while compatriot and many-time SEAG champion Eduardo Buenavista won bronze in the event won by an Indonesian runner.
Archery, a sport where the country is considered a strong gold medal contender produced just two silver medals yesterday.
Jennifer Dy Chan finished second in the women’s individual compound while teammate Earl Benjamin Jaci fetched the same medal in the men’s event.
Chess which is targetting seven gold medals in the biennial games managed to win just two silvers and a bronze yesterday.