Cebuano athletes figured prominently in the Philippine team’s medal haul of 6 golds, 8 silvers and 15 bronze medals yesterday, June 7, Sunday, in the ongoing Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.
Cebu athletes accounted for 2 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
The gilts were delivered by judoka Kiyomi Watanabe who defeated Thailand’s Orapin Senatham and Warren Kiamco, who together with his partner, Carlo Biado, defeated the pair from Vietnam in the Men’s 9-Ball Pool Doubles.
The silver was contributed by Cebu marathon queen Mary Joy Tabal and the bronze was handed in by Aiumi Ono and Madille Salinas, who are members of the Philippine 7s Ladies Volcano Rugby Team that defeated Malaysia.
Watanabe grabbed gold in the 57-63kg against Senatham after scoring an ippon (full point) in the 3:36 mark. The Filipino judoka, born to a Cebuana mother and Japanese father in Cebu City, advanced to the finals after winning her first two matches against Tania Forichon of Singapore and Thi Huong Nguyen of Vietnam.
Kiamco and Biado, on the other hand, defeated Vietnam, 9-6, for the gold. In the semifinals, they dismissed Singapore, 9-5, and prior to that, Laos, 9-1, in the quarterfinals.
Tabal, a first time participant in this biennial event, finished the 42-K race with a time of three hours, four minutes and 39 seconds, a minute and 14 seconds behind gold medalist Thanaronnawat Natthaya of Thailand. The bronze was brought home by Vietnam’s Hoang Thi Thanh.
The Philippine 7s Ladies Volcano Rugby Team settled for bronze after dismissing Malaysia, 22-0. The team won two of its preliminary matches against Laos, 17-0, and Malaysia, 27-0, and lost two against Thailand, 0-36, and Singapore, 7-12.
Ono and Salinas are former athletes of the Abellana National School.
