BY NICK GIONGCO
CAPAS, Tarlac—Fil-Am James Deiparine set a new meet record Wednesday in ruling the 100-meter breaststroke and winning the country’s first gold medal in a decade in the swimming competitions of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
Deiparine, who settled for silver two years ago in the same event and in the 50-M in Kuala Lumpur, clocked one minute and 1.40 seconds to break the previous mark of 1:01.60 held by Vietnamese Nguyen Huu Viet.
The cheers of the roaring crowd at the Aquatics Center located inside the New Clark City grew louder as soon as Deiparine took the lead after the turn.
Vietnamese Pham Thanh Bao timed in at 1:01.92 and settled for the silver while Lionel Khoo grabbed the bronze with a time of 1:01.98.
“I am kind of speechless right now,” said Deiparine, whose feat was watched live by his loved ones.
“This means so much to my family and they gave me the energy (to win),” added the soft-spoken swimmer.
Earlier, Remedy Rule and fellow Fil-Am Jasmine Alkhaldi, also made it to the medal podium.
Rule campaigned in the women’s 200 butterfly and finished second and placed third in the 100 free where Allhaldi wound up second.
Miguel Barreto and Jessie Khing Lacuna ended up seventh and eighth in the 400 free; Rosalee Santa Ana eighth in the 200 butter; and Jonathan Cook, Xiandi Chua Chloe Isleta, Christian Jaden Olson, Jerard Dominic Jacinto and the men’s 4×200 meter free were not as fortunate as Deiparine, Rule and Alkhaldi as they lagged behind their rivals.
Swimming is dangling 40 gold medals, many of them will end up in the hands of Singaporean bets, led by Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, who took his first gold in the 4×200 free relay.
Deiparine’s landmark victory overshadowed the four-gold haul of obstacle course, shooting’s twin win, weightlifting’s and Muay’s surprise contributions that shoved the Philippines’ medal tally to 56-41-22 after taking nine gold medals on the day swimming finally got going.
As of 8pm, trailing are Vietnam (27-32-33) and Malaysia (21-12-22) while Singapore (18-12-20) and Indonesia (17-27-29) round off the top five.
The Philippines was off to a hot start by winning four in obstacle course, drawing golden performances from Kevin Pascua and Rochelle Suarez in the men and women’s individual 100-meter x 10, mixed team assist 400-M x 12 and mixed team relay 400-M x 12.
Pascua timed 29.92 to take the gold while another Filipino, Mark Julius Rodelas, pocketed the bronze.
It was actually a 1-2 finish in the women’s with Milky Tejares taking the silver with a 47.88 clocking, a little more than one second behind Suarez.
The mixed team made up of Kyle Antolin, Kaizen dela Serna, Monolito Divina and Deanna Moncada also got the gold as well as the team relay made up of Diana Buhler, Jeffrey Reginio, Kim Rodriguez and Nathaniel Sanchez.
Marly Martir of the Philippine Navy ruled the WA/1500 Precision Pistol Course at Marine Base in Taguig. She was also a part of the women’s team event together with Elvie Baldovino and Franchette Quiroz.
After Hidilyn Diaz’s solid showing a few days ago, it was the turn of rising star Kristel Macrohon to shine when she captured the gold in the 71 kg class.
Macrohon, 23, had a total of 216 kg (93 snatch and 123 in clean and jerk) to beat entries from Vietnam and Indonesia.
Preliminary bouts in boxing also took place with four Filipinos entering the ring and three drawing a bye.
Those seeing action are Carlo Paalam in the men’s and Josie Gabuco, Aira Villegas and Irish Magno in the women’s.
Gabuco won over Raksat Chuthamat of Thailand in the 48 kg to advance to the semifinals.
At the Tagaytay Skate Park, Margie Didal and Christiana Means arranged an all-Filipino final in the Game of Skate Category after prevailing over Indonesians Nyimas Cinta and Kyandran Susanto, respectively.
Meanwhile, with the safety of the players as well as their expensive horses being taken into consideration, competitions in the 0-2 goals polo game at the Miguel Romero Polo Field in Calatagan, Batangas, were postponed for the second straight day.
Owing to the heavy rains caused by Typhoon Tisoy, organizers decided to make sure that the field be restored to its best condition to guarantee the safety of the participants.
“Everyone’s ready to play but we have to follow the recommendation of the officials,” said Rep. Mikee Romero, who plays for the Philippines.
CLARKFIELD, Pampanga –The Philippines’ constant source of gold medals the last three days seemed to have undergone a drought Wednesday when production came from Metro Manila as competitions near the halfway mark in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
After sports held here and surrounding areas beefed up host Philippines’ massive 47-gold output in just three days with arnis and archery combining for 24, the Clark cluster remained quiet in Day Four.
Instead, obstacle course, an event that is usually seen during company team-building seminars and intramurals but is a staple in the military around the world, rose to the occasion and delivered four, while shooting hit two and weightlifting took one.
The seven that were won as of 4 p.m. kept the Philippines afloat with a tally of 54-34-18, still way ahead of Vietnam (22-28-24) and Malaysia (19-9-18). Indonesia (14-22-24) and Singapore (10-9-15) comprise the top five.
The Philippines drew golden performances from Kevin Pascua and Rochelle Suarez in the men and women’s individual 100-meter x 10, mixed team assist 400-M x 12 and mixed team relay 400-M x 12.
Pascua timed 29.92 to take the gold while another Filipino, Mark Julius Rodelas, pocketed the bronze.
It was actually a 1-2 finish in the women’s with Milky Tejares taking the silver with a 47.88 clocking, a little more than one second behind Suarez.
The mixed team made up of Kyle Antolin, Kaizen dela Serna, Monolito Divina and Deanna Moncada also got the gold as well as the team relay made up of Diana Buhler, Jeffrey Reginio, Kim Rodriguez and Nathaniel Sanchez.
Marly Martir of the Philippine Navy ruled the WA/1500 Precision Pistol Course at Marine Base in Taguig. She was also a part of the women’s team event together with Elvie Baldovino and Franchette Quiroz.
After Hidilyn Diaz’s solid showing a few days ago, it was the turn of rising star Kristel Macrohon to shine when she captured the gold in the 71 kg class.
Macrohon, 23, had a total of 216 kg (93 snatch and 123 in clean and jerk) to beat entries from Vietnam and Indonesia.
SKATEBOARDING
ASSURED OF GOLD
Meantime, Margielyn Didal and Christiana Means assured the Philippines of its first gold medal in skateboarding competitions after arranging an all-Filipino final in the Game of Skate category here.
Didal defeated Indonesia’s Nyimas Cinta while Means prevailed over Kyandran Susanto, also of Indonesia, in the semifinals held at the Sigtuna Hall of the Tagaytay International Convention Center.
The two local bets were able to recover from slow starts in the event inspired by the rules used in a basketball game known as HORSE to forge a duel for the gold slated Thursday afternoon in this city.
“Masaya na ako kasi nakuha na natin yung gold at silver,” said Didal, who entered the local sporting scene last year when she won gold in the Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia.
Both skateboarders embraced after Means’ victory before the two gestured as if they were facing each other in a boxing match.
Finals in swimming takes place later Wednesday with eight Filipino bets so far advancing to the finals in the evening session at the Aquatics Center in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
Those who have hurdled their heats Wednesday morning include Fil-Am Remedy Rule, who will swim in the 200 butterfly and 100 free, Miguel Barreto and Jessie Lacuna in the 400 free, Jonathan Cook and James Deiparine in the 100 breast, Jaden Olson and Gerald Jacinto in the 100 back and veteran Jasmine Alkhaldi in the 100 free.
Preliminary bouts in boxing also takes place with four Filipinos entering the ring and three drawing a bye.
Those seeing action are Carlo Paalam in the men’s and Josie Gabuco, Aira Villegas and Irish Magno in the women’s.
Gabuco won over Raksat Chuthamat of Thailand in the 48 kg to advance to the semifinals.
Meanwhile, with the safety of the players as well as their expensive horses being taken into consideration, competitions in the 0-2 goals polo game at the Miguel Romero Polo Field in Calatagan, Batangas, were postponed for the second straight day.
Owing to the heavy rains caused by Typhoon Tisoy, organizers decided to make sure that the field be restored to its best condition to guarantee the safety of the participants.
“Everyone’s ready to play but we have to follow the recommendation of the officials,” said Rep. Mikee Romero, who plays for the Philippines.
