BANGKOK – The Philippines successfully defended its baseball title in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, defeating host Thailand, 5-3, in nine innings at the Queen Sirikit Stadium.
After nipping Thailand 8-7 in the semis, the Orlando Binarao-mentored team came fully prepared, racing to an early 4-0 lead in the first five innings.
The host team, reinforced by eight Thai-Americans, finally broke through in the sixth inning with a double run, but the Filipinos managed to stop the rally with a single in the seventh.
Thailand could only add one more run in the eighth before the Philippines sealed the win in a scoreless ninth frame.
The Philippines dominated the tournament, winning all its seven games, mostly via abbreviation.
This is the fourth baseball gold medal for the Philippines in the last five stagings of the SEA Games.
Custodio bags gold
Meanwhile, Kimberly Custodio stamped her class in the jiu-jitsu ne-waza event at the Ronnaphakat Building Navaminda Kasatiryahiraj Air Force Academy on Thursday night.
Custodio, a three-time world champion, defeated hometown bet Sugun Nutchaya in the women’s 48kg ne-waza final to deliver the Philippines’ second jiu-jitsu gold.
The match was tightly contested until Custodio scored three points by establishing control on top of Nutchaya in the last 30 seconds. The official awarded Custodio the much-needed crucial points, giving her enough breathing room to finish strong.
The win gave Custodio a gold in her first SEA Games stint.
In the men’s ne-waza 69kg final, Yman Baluyo settled for the silver after losing by submission to Vietnam’s Dang Dinh Tung.
Earlier Thursday, the Philippines also nabbed three bronze medals courtesy of Kaila Napolis, Marc Lim, and Vito Luzuriaga.
On Friday, Andrea Lois Lao added another bronze medal in the women’s -63kg category.
The Philippine jiu-jitsu team now has nine medals – two golds, one silver, and six bronzes.
Finnegan continues rule
Paris Olympian Aleah Finnegan reaffirmed her status as the brightest star of the women’s artistic gymnastics competition, topping the vault apparatus final on Thursday at Gymnasium 5 of Thammasat University in Pathum Thani.
Finnegan clinched her second SEA Games gold — her first coming in 2022 in Hanoi — with a score of 13.433, edging Vietnam’s Thi Quynh Nhu Nguyen (13.400) and Malaysia’s Kang Xian Yeap (12.966).
“This gold is incredibly special,” the 22-year-old said. “A lot has happened behind the scenes, some personal challenges, but I kept pushing through all of it.”
The victory came with a brief scare when officials flashed an incorrect score on the screen. The American-born Filipina waited nearly 30 minutes before judges corrected the error and officially confirmed her as the gold medalist.
Haylee Garcia secured silver in the uneven bars with a score of 12.333, while Justin Ace de Leon added a pair of bronzes in the floor exercise (12.500) and rings (12.700), completing a strong day for the Philippine gymnastics team.
8 boxing bronzes
The Philippine boxing team is now assured of eight medals following the victory of Jay Brian Baricuatro in the men’s 48-kilograms quarterfinals at the Chulalongkorn University Sports Center.
Baricuatro was simply too skilled for his Vietnamese opponent Linh Punh Nguyen, landing perfect combinations and power punches to score a convincing 5-0 victory.
With the win, Baricuatro joins Ofelia Magno in the semifinals, assuring them of at least a bronze-medal finish in their respective weight classes.
They join Hergie Bacyadan, Riza Pasuit, Nesthy Petecio, Aira Villegas, Eumir Marcial, and Weljon Mindoro, who are all assured of medals after drawing first-round byes and getting outright semis seats. / VIA PNA / POC / SPORTS RADIO