THE Philippine team barged to the medal column of the 2009 Asian Youth Games after Stephanie Cimato took the silver medal in the javelin throw yesterday at the Bishan Stadium in Singapore.

Cimato finished second to Korea’s Lee Seonhye, who had a throw of 41.10 meters.

The 15-year-old Cimato, who is from Ilocos Norte, had her best throw at 36.21 meters to become the Philippines’s lone medalist in the tournament after four days.

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The Philippine team is currently 18th in the medal tally. China continues to dominate the event with an 18-7-4 gold-silver-bronze medal tally.

Meanwhile, the Philippine basketball team continues to surge ahead in the 3-on-3 event as they moved to the semifinal round.

The team defeated United Arab Emirates, 33-9, in the quarterfinals to book a semis seat.

Although the team edges closer to a medal, they will need to hurdle the powerhouse China in the semifinal round.

Cris Michael Tolomia scored 15 points to led the team to the final four.

Easy win

China entered the semifinals following an equally easy quarterfinals assignment against Sri Lanka, 34-9.

China head coach Xi Song told ayg2009.com that though they are bigger than the Philippine team, they are not taking the Filipinos lightly because they have speed.

“The Philippines is very strong. We have no strategy yet but if we do, it must be kept a secret. I think the Philippines plays pretty well. We have taller players so it is an advantage. But the Philippines has their own advantage—they are very fast,” said Song.

Aside from Tolomia, the other members of the Philippine team are Mario Emmanuel Bonleon Jr., Jeofrey Javillonar and Jeron Alvin Teng.

The girls team, on the other hand, bowed out of contention after losing to Korea in the quarterfinals, 32-21.

In bowling, the girls team, led by Cebuana Alexis Sy, bounced back from a slow start but still fell short as they could only take fourth place in the team event.