PH jins, boxers deliver golds in SEAG

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Three veteran Filipino jins and a seasoned boxer produced gold medals for the Philippines on Saturday, May 13, as the 32nd Southeast Asian Games approaches its final stretch.

Tokyo Olympics veteran Kurt Barbosa, Arven Alcantara and Samuel Morrison dominated their foes to win gold medals in their respective divisions at the Chroy Changvar Convention Center Hall F.

Barbosa defeated his Thai foe in the final of the men’s -54-kg class while Alcantara also bested his Thai rival in the 68-kg old-medal match.

For his part, Morrison notched his fourth SEA Games gold medal by topping the men’s -87-kg category.

Meanwhile, Ian Clark Bautista provided some light for the national boxing team as he defended his men’s 57-kg class title after defeating Indonesia’s Asri Udin via unanimous decision in the final.

The Philippines scored only one victory in four boxing finals matches, with Bautista winning that lone gold.

Rogen Ladon’s bid for a third straight gold got denied as he lost to Thai Thanarat Saengphet in the men’s 51-kg final.

Irish Magno also settled for a silver after a unanimous decision defeat to her Tokyo Olympics tormentor Jutamas Jitpong in the women’s 54-kg final.

The same was the case for Riza Pasuit who lost to the Vietnamese in the women’s 63-kg final.

In weightlifting, Angeline Colonia and Lovely Inan contributed to the Philippines medal haul for the day, winning a silver each at the National Olympic Stadium.

Colonia finished second in the women’s 45-kg class as she delivered the country’s first medal in weightlifting in the ongoing Games.

Colonia, who will turn 17 years old on May 22, raised a total of 148 kgs to finish second to Myanmar’s Zin May Oo who totaled 164 kgs.

Colonia’s best lift in snatch was 68 kgs, and best in clean and jerk was 80 kgs.

Inan, on the other hand, placed second in the women’s 49-kg class.

She lifted a total of 178 kgs, finishing behind gold winner Sanikun Tanasan of Thailand who raised 191.

Inan’s best lift in snatch was 78 kgs while her best lift in clean and jerk was 100.

In basketball, the Gilas Pilipinas men’s team decimated Singapore in a 60-point, 105-45 win at the Elephant Hall to bounce back from its 68-79 loss to Cambodia.

With the win, the Filipino dribblers, who finished the pool play in Group A with a 2-1 slate, bounced back from their 68-79 loss to Cambodia last Thursday to also advance to the semifinals as the second seed.

The Gilas Pilipinas women’s team likewise scored a crucial victory in the form of a 116-58 rout of Vietnam.

The Filipinos bounced back from their loss to Indonesia to improve to 3-1.

That put them still in play for the top seed, and the championship with two more games to go.

At press time, Indonesia is on the lead with a 4-0 slate followed by Malaysia which has a 4-1 record.

The team with the best record after the single round-robin phase wins the title.