JAKARTA - Filipino athletes shared the podium in billiards and bridge in Day 7 of the 26th Southeast Asian Games, as Team Philippines bounced back somewhat from an anemic one-gold output the day before.
In Palembang, Iris Ranola crowned herself the unofficial queen of SEAG pool by bagging her second gold, beating her more celebrated teammate Rubilen Amit in the finals of women's 9-ball, 7-2, just two days after topping the 8-ball competition. The 26-year-old Ranola raced to a 6-1 lead in the all-Pinay showdown and clinched the victory two racks later, giving the billiards delegation its third gold in the Games.
Francisco Alquiros and Gemma Mariano won the gold in mixed butler, with George Soo and Mylene Encontro bagging the silver as bridge continued to be a source of medals for the embattled Philippine delegation.
Two other golds were won by Filipino bets in Jakarta. Archers Earl Benjamin Yap, Delfin Adriano, and Rosendo Sombrio captured the gold in men's team compound, nipping Malaysia in the finals, 225-221, while judoka Nancy Quillotes topped the 40-45kg division as judo won its first medal.
Pencak silat, rowing and cycling all pitched in a silver each to go with the billiards and bridge silvers, while the men's trio in bowling, grapplers Jimmy Angana and Jason Balabal, swimmer Ryan Arabejo, golfer Dottie Ardina, and the female fencing epee team accounted for six bronzes.
That brought the day's haul 4-5-6, and the overall medal count to 19-33-42, 13 golds behind new fifth-placer Singapore, which was finally overtaken by Malaysia. Host Indonesia is now too far away to be usurped at the top spot with 108 golds, 81 silvers, and 76 bronzes, leaving Vietnam (68-63-64) and Thailand (64-58-69) to dispute second spot.
On other fronts, our tennis players advanced to the quarterfinals of the various singles and doubles events. Cecil Mamiit, Jeson Patrombon, and Ana Clarice Patrimonio all won the round of 16 singles matches, while the doubles tandems of Patrimonio and Denise Dy, Patrombon and Johnny Arcilla, and Mamiit and Treat Huey also hurdled their first-round foes to move into the last eight. In mixed doubles, Dy and Huey and Patrimonio and Arcilla also won.
But in medal-rich boxing, the news wasn't all good. Four boxers, including fancied Mark Anthony Barriga, fell by the wayside, leaving only six left standing.
The bowlers try to capture a second, or even third, gold today with the team of five competitions in both men's and women's events getting underway at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Center. In basketball, the men's team shoots for a finals berth Malaysia, while the women's team clashes with Thailand in a virtual gold-medal match.
The men's 9-ball competition also unwraps today, with Django Bustamante and Jundel Mazon debuting in the quarterfinals. The wushu team also gets going as hostilities in this medal-rich sport get underway at the Senayan Indoor Tennis Center.
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