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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Karatedo team gets RP 2 golds
CEBU CITY -- The Philippine karatedo team bounced back from a disappointing start and won two of the eight gold medals at stake at the Karatedo event Monday at the Mandaue City Sports Complex.
The two golds, along with other Filipino victories that included snooker, diving, tennis, wushu and athletics, raised the Philippines medal tally to 23 golds.
The Philippines now leads the pack in the second day of the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to be in Cebu Tuesday to support the Philippine teams competing in the cities of Danao and Mandaue. She will then head for Bacolod City, where the Games first saw its security scare Monday.
In Mandaue City, Gretchen Malalad gave the Philippines the first karatedo gold medal by winning the women’s individual kumite in the +60kgs division.
The 25-year-old head turner defeated Jamalliah BT. Jamalludin of Malaysia for the gold.
“Sobrang tension naramdaman ko. It’s really hard to play at home since the pressure is a lot. But on the other hand, playing here is really a big boost to my morale and confidence. I had a hard time but I was able to conquer it with the help of the crowd,” Malalad said.
It was Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Nga who gave Malalad the toughest fight on her way to the gold medal round. Nga left three bruises on Malalad’s chin.
Vietnam hauled four golds in karatedo.
Four Filipino boxers also showed too much class as they stopped their opponents in Bacolod City.
In Manila, Diver Sheila Mae Perez dominated the three-meter springboard - on her own and with a partner.
Perez became a double gold medal winner Monday, finishing first in the three-meter springboard after teaming with fellow Filipino Cesiel Domenios last Sunday in the synchronized version of the same event.
“When I topped the preliminaries, I got some confidence,” said Perez, who won silver in the same event at Vietnam two years ago.
In tennis, the Philippines, led by ATP Tour member Cecil Mamiit’s singles win over Prima Simpatiaji in straight sets, won the men’s team gold in tennis, 2-1. Indonesia defeated Thailand 3-0 to win the women’s team gold.
Also, 2000 Sydney Olympics diver Zardo Domenios paired with Nino Carog to win the men’s three-meter synchronized springboard.
Domenios and Carog led in all five rounds of their dive competition to finish with 299.40 points, nearly 16 points ahead of the silver medal-winning pair of Yeoh Ken Nee and Rossharisham Roslam of Malaysia.
Runner Mercedita Manipol of the Philippines, a 25-year-old teaching student who returned to school after leaving college as a teenager, also took home the gold in the 10,000-meter race.
The taekwondo team produced four golds, while the men’s wushu team snared three.
RP earned a gold medal from the snooker team led by Alex Pagulayan, one gold from the 3,000-meter men’s steeplechase, and another gold from the men’s javelin throw.
On Tuesday, Malalad is hoping to pick her second gold when he plays for the open weight kumite event.
The second to deliver the gold medal for the country was Marna Pabillore, who won the under 53kgs individual kumite over Y. Torrattanawathna of Thailand.
Like Malalad, Pabillore also gained confidence from the cheers of the crowd, who shrieked and applauded with every clean hit.
“Sarap ng pakiramdam to bring gold to the country. The toughness of my opponent was neutralized by the loud support of the crowd,” Pabillore stressed.
Cherli Tugday added one bronze to the women’s team in the under 60kgs kumite.
But the men’s team remains empty-handed for two days now. They only won a bronze medal in kata, while Junel Perania won the under 70kgs bronze in the individual kumite.
Nguyen Thi Hai of Vietnam won the gold medal in the women’s under 60kgs individual kumite while Vie B. Bang won the gold in the Men’s individual kumite in the under 70kgs.
Vietnam collected four gold medals in all, including in the team kata events in both the men’s and women’s division, following a lackluster opening day that left them without any gold medal
The other two golds in karatedo were won by players from Indonesia.
In the final day of the karatedo event today, Team Philippines is hoping to sweep all the gold medals to claim the overall title.
Meanwhile, Arroyo will drop by at the Cultural and Sports Complex in Mandaue City at 9:30 a.m. to witness the Karatedo event, before heading for Danao City to open the cross-country and downhill bike competition in Barangay Sabang.
“She will have a lunch in Cebu and informal talks with the local officials,” Cerge Remonde, the head of the government media bureau, said in a mobile phone interview Monday night.
From Danao, Arroyo will go back to Cebu City for a short rest and lunch, before leaving for Bacolod City, which hosts the weight lifting, indoor and beach volleyball, football and boxing.
Bacolod will be in full alert Tuesday, with Arroyo’s visit and following Monday’s bomb scare.
On Monday, a bomb-sniffing dog picked up a scent in a van at a parking lot near the stadium at the volleyball venue at West Negros College.
Bacolod City Police Superintendent Pedro Merced said the man who owns the van is being questioned, and the vehicle was taken for further investigation.
There was no immediate word on whether there was a bomb or explosives in the van.
More than 17,000 police and security forces are on high alert during the Games. (RCM of Sun.Star Cebu/AP)
(November 29, 2005 issue)
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