CEBU’S ace shotmaker Lois Kaye Go and partner Bianca Isabel Pagdanganan lived up to their lofty billing as the pair handed a gold medal for the Philippines in the women’s team match play golf event of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac City on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019.
Go and Pagdanganan, who won a gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games with teammate Yuka Saso, did it again, this time in the SEA Games stage, as they outdueled Malaysian’s Ashley Lau and Natasha Oon in the gold medal match.
The Filipino duo fired a 136 against the 140 shots of the Malaysians.
Pagdanganan defeated Oon to win her match in the 16th hole with a score of 62-65 before Go closed it out with a thrilling 74-75 victory over Lau in the 18th hole.
“It was so nerve-racking because Ashley is a great player. Anything can happen in match plays, so I decided to stick to my game plan,” said Go, who’s a product of the junior golf program of the Cebu Country Club.
Go studies and plays golf for the University of South Carolina.
It was the second gold medal for Pagdanganan following her impressive win in the women’s individual stroke play on Friday.
Over at the Decawake Clark Cable Park, wakeboarder Raphael Trinidad of Liloan, Cebu settled for a silver medal in the men’s wakeboarding.
Trinidad, 17, garnered a total score of 69.33 points and came short to eventual gold medalist Thailand’s Sanya Phonthip, who got 72.67 points.
Ralph Gello Villaro, also from the Philippines, won the bronze medal with 61 points.
In softball, the Philippines routed Indonesia 8-0 to win its 10th straight gold medal in just five innings.
With the Philippines safely ahead, the game was cut short owing to the mercy rule.
The Philippines is also safely ahead in the medal tally with 98 gold medals, 72 silvers and 82 bronzes on Sunday with three days left before the biennial meet comes to a close at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac on Dec. 11.
The host is on its way to making history as it stayed unshaken at the top of the overall medal tally. No nation was near the Philippines, as the closest contender Indonesia was 36 golds behind the Filipinos.
Vietnam collected 52 golds, 53 silvers and 68 bronzes at third place followed by Thailand’s 49-64-65 gold-silver-bronze tally and Singapore’s 39-31-46 haul.
The only time the Philippines won the overall title was when it hosted the 2005 SEA Games.
Meanwhile, Timor Leste won’t go home empty-handed in this edition of the SEA Games as the country is now guaranteed at least a bronze medal, which could potentially go as high as a gold medal.
De Araujo Dos Reis Amorin Imbrolia of Timor Leste defeated Kaung Nan Thou Narry of Myanmar, 34-32, to get into the medal round in the women’s taekwondo Under-57 kg. division at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
The hashtag #TimorLeste went viral online as the Filipino netizens cheered for Timor Leste to win its first medal in the biennial sporting meet.