The Philippines got off to a hot start in taekwondo with two gold medals while Chezka Centeno carved her niche in cue sports in the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Saturday.
The taekwondo jins bagged the first two gold medals staked on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium to add to the Philippine haul in the medal tally that looked more of a battle of second place with the hosts running away with three more days in the Games.
Rodolfo Reyes Jr. scored 8.349 to win the gold in the male recognized poomsae individual event, relegating Thailand’s Sengmueabg Pattarapong to the silver with 8.199. Myanmar’s Shine Sun finished with 7.849 to settle for the bronze medal.
Jocel Lyn Ninobla made it a double celebration for the host team, edging Thailand’s Srisahakit Ornawee by a hair for the women’s poomsae recognized individual gold.
Ninobla scored 8.433, while Ornawee finished a close second with 8.432. Vietnam’s Le Tran Im Uyen settled for the bronze with 8.149.
“It was really close. I’m thankful to God for the win,” Ninobla said.
Reyes’s win more than made up for his bronze-medal finish in the event in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur.
“I’m too happy to win the gold. I’m very thankful for the support of the huge Filipino crowd. It’s really inspiring. Thanks to you all,” said 22-year-old Reyes.
Centeno, on the other hand, dominated compatriot Rubilen Amit, 7-3, in an all-Philippine title duel also on Saturday to capture the women’s 10-ball gold at the Manila Hotel Tent.
Centeno, 20, led 6-1 before Amit fought back to win the next two racks. But the Zamboanga native proved too much for the 38-year-old Amit in the end.
En route to the 10-ball finals, Centeno and Amit humbled their semifinal opponents from Myanmar on Friday night. Centeno downed Aung A Mi, 7-4, while Amit crushed Maung Thandar 7-2.
Centeno made quick work of Tan Hui Ming, 7-1, to set herself up for a potential third straight 9-ball singles crown. The Filipino got the job done in 45 minutes.
“My breaks worked well for me. My opponent made many errors. So I easily took out the game,” Centeno said. “She [Ming] was good but she had too many errors. I got lucky.”
But Centeno will again face Amit, who disposed of Thailand’s Vutthiphan Kongkaket, 7-2, in the other semifinal.
The 9-ball final is at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
“Whoever wins deserves it. Its fine,” said Centeno, a Zamboanga native. “I am excited because we will face again in the finals.”
Centeno and Ami are used to facing each other in the final.
“We’re both just having fun with each other,” Amit said. “The funny thing is she is younger but her maturity is too high. So if there is some tips I can give her, its not about billiards.”
Carlo Biado, meanwhile, fell short and lost to Indonesia’s Ismail Kadir in the quarterfinals of the men’s 10-ball singles event.
PHL athletes on target
The Philippines remained hot on track to achieving its ultimate goal—finish atop the medal standings and repeat the accomplishment of 2005, the last time the country hosted the multisport biennial games.
With three competition days remaining, Filipino athletes amassed 80 gold medals, way above the country’s performance in the last six SEA Games where it languished in sixth place overall.
Those golds were laced with 59 silvers and as many bronzes.
Indonesia was a far second place with 46 gold on top of 45 silver and 52 bronze medals, followed by Vietnam with 40-46-58 (gold-silver-bronze), Malaysia 35-24-33 and Singapore 33-25-39.
Thailand is outside of the magic five with 29-44-53. Myanmar and Cambodia have won two gold medals each, whole Brunei has one. Laos has three silvers and 13 bronzes, while Timor Leste has yet to win a medal.