2017 SEA GAMES : A SALUTE TO OUR SPORTS HEROES - OUR PHILIPPINE MEDALISTS

The 2017 Southeast Asian Games is closing today and it is just fitting that we salute our new heroes - this year's Philippine medalists.

For this edition, the Philippines collected 121 total medals - 24 golds, 33 silvers and 64 bronze medals. Though we fell short of our target of 50 gold medals and even lower than our 29 gold medal output in the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, it is just right to salute the sacrifices our our athletes to win these medals on the week when we celebrated Araw ng Kagitingan.

So here are our heroes:

GOLD MEDALISTS

Mary Joy Tabal - Athletics - Women's Marathon
Nikko Bryan Huelgas - Men's Triathlon
Marion Kim Mangrobang - Women's Triathlon
Reyland Capellan - Gymnastics - Men's Floor Exercise
Kaitlin de Guzman - Gymnastics - Women's Uneven Bars
Agatha Chrystenzen Wong - Wushu - Women's Taijiquan
Brennan Wayne Louie - Fencing - Men's Foil
Eric Shaun Cray - Athletics - Men's 400m Hurdles
Aries Toledo - Athletics - Men's Decathlon
Trenten Anthony Beram - Athletics - Men's 200m and 400m
Curte Robert Guarin, Emmanuel Portacio, Leoncio Carreon, Jr. and Ronald Lising - Lawn Bowls - Men's Fours Team
Eumir Felix Marcial - Boxing - Men's Middleweight
John Marvin - Boxing - Men's Light Heavyweight
Men's Ice Hockey Team - Ice Hockey
Rodolfo Reyes, Jr., Dustin Jacob Mella, Raphael Enrico Mella - Taekwondo - Men's Poomsae Team
Kiyomi Watanabe - Judo - Women's 63kg
Gilas Pilipinas Cadets Team - Basketball - Men's Basketball
Chezka Centeno - Billiards - Women's 9 Ball Singles
Samuel Thomas Morrison- Taekwondo - Kyorugi - Men's -74kg
Mariya Takahashi - Judo - Women's -70kg
Carlo Biado - Billiards - Men's 9 Ball Singles
Colin John Syquia - Equestrian - Individual Showjumping
Dines Dumaan - Pencak Silat - Tanding Men's Class A

SILVER MEDALISTS

Men's Chinlone Team - Sepak Takraw - Men's Chinlone Team (Linking)
Nicole Marie Tagle - Archery - Women's Individual Recurve
John Leerams Chicano - Men's Triathlon
Ma. Claire Adorna - Women's Triathlon
Samantha Kyle Catantan - Fencing - Women's Individual Foil
Agatha Chrystenzen Wong - Wushu - Women's Optional Taijijian
Hanniel Abel - Fencing - Women's Individual Epee
Nathaniel Perez - Fencing - Men's Foil
Jason Ramil Macaalay - Karate - Men's Kumite +60kg
Rexor Tucay - Karate - Men's Kumite - -67kg
Eric Shaun Cray - Athletics - Men's 100m
Kaitlin de Guzman - Gymnastics - Women's Floor Exercise
Marco Vilog - Athletics - Men's 800m
Mark Harry Diones - Athletics - Men's Triple Jump
Mario Fernandez - Boxing - Men's Bantamweight
Marisa Baronda, Nancy Toyko, Nenita Tabiano, Sharon Hauters - Lawn Bowls - Women's Fours
Jemyca Aribado & Yvonne Alyssa Dalida- Squash - Women's Jumbo Doubles
Hazel Jagonoy, Rosita Bradborn, Vilma Greenless - Lawn Bowls - Women's Triples
James Deiparine - Swimming - Men's Breaststroke - 100m and 50m
Marcelito Pancho & Angelo Morales - Lawn Bowls - Men's Pairs
Anna Clarice Patrimonio - Tennis - Women's Singles
Colin John Syquia, Sophia Amor Chiara, Joker Arroyo, Marie Antonette Leviste - Equestrian - Team Show Jumping
Rubilen Amit - Billiards - Women's 9 Ball Singles
Arven Alcantara - Taekwondo - Kyorugi Men's -68kg
Michael Martinez - Ice Skating - Men's Figure Skating
Rhezie Aragon - Taekwondo - Kyorugi Women's -53kg
Geylord Coveta - Sailing - Men's RS One Windsurfing
Kristie Elaine Alora - Taekwondo - Kyorugi Women's -73kg
Jason Huerte, Mark Joseph Gonzales, Rheyjey Ortouste, Ronsited Gabayeron - Sepak Takraw- Men's Regu
Robert Andrew Garcia, Reymark Begornia, David William Pelino, Juan Rafael Yam - Squash - Men;s Team

BRONZE MEDALISTS

Paul Marton dela Cruz - Archery - Men's Individual Compound
Paul Marton dela Cruz, Joseph Benjamin Vicencio & Earl Benjamin Yap - Archery - Men's Team Compound
Mark Javer, Florante Matan & Gabriel Moreno - Archery - Men's Recurve Team
Nicole Marie Tagle, Kareel Meer Hongitan & Mary Queen Ybanez - Archery - Women's Recurve Team
Maxine Isabel Esteban - Fencing - Women's Individual Foil
Women's Regu Team - Sepak Takraw - Women's Regu
Orencio James delos Santos - Karate - Men's Individual Kata
Junna Tsukii - Karate - Women's Kumite -50kg
Harlene Raguin - Fencing - Women's Individual Epee
Richard Gonzales - Table Tennis - Men's Singles
Roxanne Ashley yu - Swimming - Women's 200m Backstroke
Evalyn Palabrica - Athletics - Women's Javelin Throw
Kaitlin de Guzman - Gymnastics - Women's Balance Beam
Reyland Capellan - Gymnastics - Men's Vault
Arnel Ferrera - Athletics - Men's Hammer Throw
Mae Soriano - Karate - Women's Kumite -55kg
Jasmin Alkhaldi - Swimming - Women's 100m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, 200m Freestyle
Jemyca Aribado & Yvonne Alyssa Dalida- Squash - Women's Doubles
Amparo Teresa Acuna - Shooting - Women's 50m Rifle
Ian Clark Bautista - Boxing - Men's Flyweight
Charly Suarez - Boxing - Men's Light Welterweight
Marvin Guarte - Athletics - Men's 1500m
Women's Kumite Team - Karate - Women's Team Kumite
Lois Kaye Go - Golf - Women's Individual
Women's Bowling Team - Bowling - Women's Team
David Pelino & Robert Andrew Garcia - Squash - Men's Jumbo Doubles
Janry Ubas - Athletics - Men's Long Jump
Dennis Orcullo & Warren Kiamco - Billiards - Men's 9 Ball Doubles
Alkhaldi, Oliva, Pamintuan, Sta. Ana - Swimming - Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay
Denise Dy & Katharina Lenhert - Tennis - Women's Doubles
Kayla Richardson, Kyla Richardson, Zion Nelson & Eloiza Luzon - Athletics - Women's 4 x 100m Relay
Anfernee Lopena, Archand Christian Bagsit, Eric Shaun Cray, Trenten Anthony Beram - Athletics - Men's 4 x 100m Relay
Melvin Calano - Athletics - Men's Javelin Throw
Marestella Sunang - Athletics - Women's Long Jump
Mark Griffin - Wakeboarding - Men's Individual
Rodolfo Reyes, Jr. - Taekwondo - Men's Individual Poomsae
Clinton Kingsley Bautista - Athletics - Men's 110m Hurdles
Rinna Babanto, Juvenille Crisostomo and Jecel Lyn Ninobla - Taekwondo - Women's Poomsae Team
Daniel Caluag - Cycling - Men's BMX
Shugen Nakano - Judo - Men's -66kg
Keisei Nakano - Judo - Men's 73kg
Ainie Knight & Asuncion Bruce - Lawn Bowls - Women's Pairs
Denise Dy & Ruben Gonzales - Tennis - Mixed Doubles
Edgardo Alejan, Archand Christian Bagsit, Michael Carlo del Prado, Aries Toledo - Athletics - Men's 4 x 400m Relay
Elmer Abatayo - Lawn Bowls - Men's Singles
Jayson Huerte, Rheyjey Ortouste, Mark Joseph Gonzales - Sepak Takraw - Men's Doubles
Emerson Villena & Lester Troy Tayon - Sailing - Men's International 470
Women's Team - Rhythmic Gymnastics - Women's Single Apparatus
Sydney Sy - Judo - Women's -68kg
Pauline Louise Lopez - Taekwondo - Kyorugi Women's -62kg
Alisson Perticheto - Ice Skating - Women's Figure Skating
Johann Chua - Billiards - Men's 9 Ball Singles
Jemyca Aribado - Squash - Women's Singles
Robert Andrew Garcia- Squash - Men's Singles
Princesslyn Enopia - Pencak Silat - Tanding Women's Class A
Rickrod Ortega - Pencak Silat - Tanding Men’s Class C
Jefferson Rhey Loon - Pencak Silat - Tanding Men’s Class D
Ryan Jakiri - Muay - Men's 60-63kg
Francis Aaron Agojo - Taekwondo - Kyorugi Men's -63kg
Juryll del Rosario - Pencak Silat - Tanding Men’s Class I
Isabelle Gotuaco, Jemyca Aribado, Joan Aribado, Yvonne Dalida - Squash - Women's Team

Congratulations to all our Philippine medalists and to all the athletes that competed! Mabuhay kayo!

To all SEA Games athletes - see you in Manila in 2019!

AVC WOMEN'S SENIOR VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : PHILIPPINES BEATS VIETNAM IN 4 SETS

In their last game in the second round of the AVC Women's Senior Volleyball Championship, the hosts Philippines just beat one of the Southeast Asian greats Vietnam in a 4 set thriller at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.

The Philippines has to come from behind to win the first two sets, 27-25 and 26-24. The third set was handily won by Vietnam, building a commanding lead early in the set, which ended at 17-25. The fourth set was not even a close one. The Philippines lead almost the whole set, building as much as a 6 point lead. In the end, a combination play for Alyssa Valdez ended the match. Here is the match point of Valdez as posted in the ABS-CBN Sports Twitter page:

.@kimfajardo9 to @AlyssaValdez2 FOR THE WIN! #AVCWomensSCH pic.twitter.com/o0sgVIzDal

— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) August 14, 2017

Valdez top scored the Philippines with 20 points and Jaja Santiago added 19 markers. It is also good to note that we also had superb floor defense from Dawn Macandili and blocks from Aby Marano.

If this is a good gauge for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games, we really have a good chance in getting a podium finish this year after 12 years since we last won the bronze from the regional meet when we last hosted the games in 2005.

The Philippines will next meet another Southeast Asian volleyball giant Thailand in the quarterfinals tomorrow night.

Big congratulations to the Philippine girls!

2015 SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES : FIL-AMS DELIVER 3 ATHLETICS GOLD MEDALS

Three Filipino-American recruits deliver gold medal performances at the start of the athletics competition at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

New recruit Caleb Stuart started the day for the Philippines with a record setting performance at the Men's Hammer Throw. His 3rd throw of 65.63m is the new SEA Games record. He was able to beat Thailand (62.12m) and Malaysia (61.18m). Another Filipino, veteran camapaigner Arnel Ferrera, finished fifth. Here is Caleb's performance:

In a rare feat, the fastest man and woman in Southeast Asia comes from the Philippines. Eric Shaun Cray and Kayla Richardson both won the 100m for Men and Women, respectively. Cray clocked in at 10.25s, a clear 0.20s faster than the silver medalist. Richardson, on the other hand, had a photo finish race against the Thai runner and both of them clocked in identical times of 11.76s. In the end, the gold was awarded to Richardson.

Here are their performances at the 100m sprint races:

With more events for all these 3 athletes, the target of 8-12 medals for athletics seems very much attainable. Hope this is the start of the resurgence of Philippine athletics.

2015 SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES : PHILIPPINES SNAGS 6 GOLDS DURING THE WEEKEND GAMES

Team Philippines delivered 6 gold medals over the weekend, with 5 more silvers and 14 bronzes. With this medal haul, Philippines is still in 7th place in the medal tally.

The 6 gold medals came from 5 sports : triathlon, wushu, rugby, billiards and judo.

The Philippines shown its dominance in triathlon, winning both the men's and women's events. Claire Adorna and Kim Mangrobang finished 1-2 in their Saturday race respectively. They delivered the first gold medal of the Philippines. Here are the girls as posted in Inquirer Group's Twitter Page :

Palace lauds Claire Adorna for winning PH’s first SEA Games gold http://t.co/9cuEh5FCSY | @AHeginaINQ pic.twitter.com/NmMrPeXXRF

— Inquirer Group (@inquirerdotnet) June 7, 2015

Nikko Huelgas continued the country's dominance in the event by topping the men's race earlier this morning. Here is his winning moment as posted in the 2015 SEA Games Twitter page :

#Triathlon #PHI Nikko Bryan Huelgas was tearing up as he marked 2:04:32 to secure place as winner! Photo by Hutomo pic.twitter.com/fbcfUzhaAY

— 28th SEA Games (@seagames2015) June 7, 2015

Wushu athlete Daniel Parantac also delivered by topping Men's Optional Taijijian event. He scored 9.71 and just 0.02 points ahead of the silver medalist. Here is the awarding ceremonies of the event as posted in the Sports Singapore YouTube channel :

Wushu was also able to deliver a silver medal in the Men's Duel Event - Weapons from the trio of Parantac, Norlence Ardee Catolico and John Keithley Chan.

Billiards also delivered a golden performance with the pair of Carlo Biado and Warren Kiamco winning the 9-ball doubles event. They beat Vietnam in the finals with a score 9-5. Here is the awarding ceremonies for the event, also posted in the Singapore Sports YouTube channel:

The Philippine Volcanoes also did not disappoint, sweeping the elimination rounds up to the finals to capture the men's Rugby 7s gold medal. The women's team also got a podium finish, getting the bronze medal in distaff side. Here is a picture of the Philippine rugby team celebrating after the medal ceremony as posted in the official Twitter page of Philippine Volcanoes:

Inaalay namin ang mga medalyang ito sa lahat ng Pilipino sa buong mundo! Salamat po sa suporta! #LabanPilipinas pic.twitter.com/N8hXKwtkTS

— PhilippineVolcanoes™ (@PhilippineRugby) June 7, 2015

The last gold medal of the weekend was contributed by judoka Kiyomi Watanabe in the Women's 57 - 63kg division. Judo also contributed 2 bronze medals by Gilbert Ramirez and Helen Dawa in their respective divisions.

Other sports that contributed medals were swimming (3 bronzes) athletics (1 silver), canoeing (2 bronzes), fencing (4 silvers and 1 bronze), gymnastics (1 bronze), shooting (2 bronze) and table tennis (1 silver).

Hope this is a sign of more medals in the coming days. Good luck Team Pilipinas!

2015 SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES FORMALLY OPENS

The 2015 Southeast Asian Games was formally opened today at the Singapore National Stadium with a 2 hour program.

The best athletes and coaches from the 11 member nations of Southeast Asia; Brunei Darusalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam and host Singapore, marched into the stadium to proudly represent their respective countries in this 28th edition of the games. There are 37 sports in this edition and will run until June 16.

Here is a glimpse of Team Philippines during the parade of nations, led by volleybelle Alyssa Valdez as posted by GMA News in their Twitter account :

LOOK: Team Philippines at the #SEAGames2015 led by flag-bearer @AlyssaValdez2 http://t.co/AnR6QxgBlM pic.twitter.com/wGgz5reUCT

— GMA News (@gmanews) June 5, 2015

Here is the video of the Team Philippines during the parade of nations as posted in the YouTube channel of Sports Singapore :

It was also revealed that Philippines is interested to host the 30th SEA Games in 2019 after Brunei backed out. It will be a busy year for sports if we confirm hosting the SEA Games and if we win hosting the 2019 FIBA World Cup as well!

2015 SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES : GOLD STILL ELUSIVE FOR PHILIPPINES, FENCING AND TABLE TENNIS DELIVER MEDALS

Team Philippines still cannot get that first gold medal a day before the official opening of the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

The good news is that the Filipino fencers added 2 more medals and table tennis added 1 more before the day ends to keep the Philippines in 5th place in the medal tally with 3 silvers and 1 bronze medals.

Fencer Nathaniel Perez got the first bronze of the country after losing to Minh Quang Nguyen of Vietnam in the semi-final round of the Men's Individual Foil, 14 - 15.

Shortly after that, fencing delivered another silver medal. Harlene Raguin lost to Thi Len Than of Vietnam in the Women's Individuale Epee event, 7 - 11. Here is Harlene during the the awarding ceremony as posted in the Twitter page of the Sountheast Asian Games :

#Fencing: women's épée ind event - congrats to #VIE, #PHI, #SIN, THA! By Leong Mei Lin & Naomi Michiko #seagames2015 pic.twitter.com/11lH4CJQz5

— 28th SEA Games (@seagames2015) June 4, 2015

Table tennis also contributed to the medal count for Team Pilipinas. Richard Gonzales got the silver medal after losing to World No. 15 Gao Ning of Singapore, 1 - 3.

2015 SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES : FENCER JUSTINE GAIL TINIO GIVES TEAM PILIPINAS ITS FIRST MEDAL

With still 2 days before the actual opening ceremonies, Team Philippines already barged into the medal tally. A silver medal was won by one of our lady fencer in the Women's Individual Foil event.

Tinio, a UAAP fencing champion from the University of the East, lost to Singaporean Wenying Wang in the finals, 15-7.

Here is a photo of Tinio during the medal ceremony as posted by Sports5 in their Twitter page:

Philippines' first Silver Medal in the 28th SEA Games courtesy of Justine Gail Tinio! #LabanPilipinas pic.twitter.com/hogO7qwyQ2

— Sports5 (@Sports5PH) June 3, 2015

This is also posted in the 2015 SEA Games Facebook page :

Hope this is the start of more medals for Team Pilipinas! Congratulations Justine Gail!

2015 SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES : PROMO FOR GILAS PILIPINAS CADETS

With a few days left in the preparations, here is a short promo published by Sports 5 in their YouTube channel for the Philippine basketball team, the Gilas Pilipinas Cadets, for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games who are targeting to defend their title that they won in 2013 in Myanmar :

The team will be composed of the following players: Baser Amer, Mac Belo, Kevin Ferrer, Jiovani Jalalon, Glenn Khobuntin, Kiefer Ravena, Prince Rivero, Troy Rosario, Earl Scottie Thompson, Norbert Torres, Almond Vosotros and naturalized veteran Marcus Douthit. They will be coached by Tab Baldwin.

The team will be playing in Group A and will start their campaign on June 10. Here is their game schedule:

June 10 - vs Indonesia (1pm)

June 11 - vs Malaysia (4pm)

June 12 - vs Timor Leste (6pm)

The semi-final matches will be played on June 14 and the finals will be on June 15.

2015 SOUTHEAST ASIAN GAMES : PHILIPPINE VOLLEYBALL TEAM RECOGNIZED DURING THE SHAKEYS V-LEAGUE FINALS

The members of the Philippine Volleyball National Team for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games was called and recognized during the finals of the Open Conference of Shakey's V-League. All 13 members of the team was present and were called out before the awarding ceremonies where PLDT got the championship after winning over Army.

Here is a glimpse of the national team from Tiebraker Times Twitter account :

#LabanPilipinas PH WVT SEA Games team present earlier. pic.twitter.com/HqVziijpeU

— Tiebreaker Times (@TiebreakerTimes) May 31, 2015

The team will join other athletes during the opening ceremonies on June 5, where Alyssa Valdez will be the flag bearer, and will start their quest for a medal after a decade long absence on June 10.

Here is a promo released by Sports5 in their YouTube channel:

The team will start their campaign on June 10, their schedule is as follows:

June 10 - vs Indonesia (12pm)
June 11 - vs Malaysia (10am)
June 13 - vs Vietnam (10am)

Semifinal matches will be played on June 14 and the finals on June 15.

Wishing good luck to Team Philippines and I am hoping that everyone will cheer for them, politics aside.