By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
A combination of technology and Vietnam’s traditional arts will be showcased in Thursday’s opening ceremony of the 31st Southeast Asian Games even as Mary Francine Padios delivered the country’s first gold medal in her pencak silat event at the Bac Tu Liem Gymnasium in Vietnam.
According to the Games website, state-of-the-art technology such as mapping, augmented reality and extended reality, among others will be used for the opening festivities set at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi to welcome participants from 11 nations for the two-week affair.
Symbols of the 40 sports that will be played in this year’s edition will also be depicted in the style of Dong Ho folk painting art – a traditional craft of Vietnam.
After a parade and a hoisting ceremony of the national flag of Vietnam and other member countries, 11 outstanding Vietnamese athletes will carry the torch and light the Games cauldron to signal the opening of the meet.
It will be followed by a three-chapter show with themes “Friendly Vietnam”, “Strong Southeast Asia” and “Shining Southeast Asia.”
World-class pole vaulter EJ Obiena will carry the flag for the Philippines as members of the delegation are expected to join the parade of colors and athletes.
Meanwhile, Padios captured the country’s first gold medal Wednesday after ruling the women’s seni (artistic) tunggal single event with a score of 9.960 points.
Indonesia’s Puspa Arum Sari settled for the silver with 9.945 points.
Padios’ triumph came a day after the Philippine kurash team bagged one silver and two bronze medals at the Hoai Duc Gymnasium.
Helen Aclopen Talongen bowed to Vietnam’s Trang To Thi, 1-0, to settle for the silver medal in the women’s -48kg division, while Charmea Quelino Kingay and George Angelo Baclagan delivered bronze medals in their respective weight categories.
Kingay lost to local bet Thi Tuyet Han Nguyen in the -52kg even as Baclagan succumbed to another Vietnamese in Duy Thanh Le, 1-0, in the -90kg.
The Philippines is also assured of a silver medal in beach handball regardless of their result against Singapore that was being played at presstime, while four kickboxers are currently fighting in the gold-medal round.
Action in 13 sports fires off on Friday that include badminton, 3×3 basketball, fencing, golf, artistic gymnastics, petanque, sepak takraw, table tennis, tennis, indoor volleyball, wushu, bodybuilding and e-sports.
Tokyo Olympian Cris Nievarez and partner Joseph Christian Jasmin claimed the silver medal in rowing men’s lightweight double sculls while the quartet of Joanie Delgaco, Amelyn Pagulayan, Josephine Mirelle Qua and Kristine Paraon bagged the bronze medal in women’s quadruple sculls.
Nievarez and Jasmin narrowly missed the gold mint clocking 7:05:85, just four seconds off first placers Ardi Isedi and Kakan Rusmana of Indonesia who logged 7:01.38.
Meanwhile, Delgaco, Pagulayan, Qua and Paraon finished the race in 7:28.87 or 15 seconds behind gold medal winners Pham Thi Thao, Dihn Thin Hao, Ho Thi Ly and Pham Thi Hue of host Vietnam who logged 7:13.20.
