Four days left before the official opening ceremony, and the Philippine campaign is up and running. The table tennis and football teams started their competitions today, while the netball squad continued to feel the vibe of international experience. It was a day of highs and lows for the delegation as they continue their quest in the 28th Southeast Asian Games.
Gonzales stars for the PH paddlers
Veteran and 2013 men’s singles bronze medalist, Richard Gonzales proved he still has what it takes, as he provided a stellar performance in winning two of his three matches of the day. Gonzales along with his fellow veteran, Rodel Valle, defeated young Malaysians, Chun Cheun Wong and Chee Fung Leong, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, to advance to the quarterfinals of men’s doubles. Their journey was cut short, however, when they faced Feng Chen and Zhe Yu Clarence Chew of Singapore. The Filipinos took the first set, 13-11, in a grueling battle, but lost the succeeding sets 6-11, 6-11 and 4-11 to bow out of this event. Gonzales took on the table with a few minutes rest to dismantle Laotian Phathapone Thavisack, 11-2, 11-4, 11-4, in the first match of the men’s singles pools.
The tandem of UAAP MVP, Ian Lariba, and Sendrin Balatbat in the women’s doubles was not as fortunate, as they lost a five-set match against Gustin Dwijayanti and Kharisma Nur Hawwa of Indonesia, 11-6, 13-15, 12-10, 8-11, 5-11, in the Round of 16. The DLSU standout, Lariba could not get a breakthrough win as she, along with her partner Valle, lost in straight sets to Thailand’s Sawettabut Suthasini and young upstart, Tanviriyavechakul Padasak, 10-12, 3-11, 3-11, in the mixed doubles.
All is not over for the mixed doubles teams, however, as Balatbat and 17-year old Ryan Jacolo moved on to the next round with a 7-11, 11-6, 7-11, 14-12, 11-6 win against Laos’ Phathapone and Douangpanya Seangdavieng, to cap the day’s campaign for the sport.
Defending champions Malaysia bamboozles Siklab
It was over as soon as the first quarter ended.
The women’s netball team could not recover from too many errors and mistakes in their game against the reigning queens of Southeast Asian netball, as Malaysia dismantled the Nationals, 112-11.
The Malaysians scored 32 goals in the first quarter alone, while limiting the Philippines to a solitary goal. The shooting woes continued for the Nationals as they only produced two points in the following quarter. The first half ended with the defending champions up by a gigantic margin, 61-3. The Philippines was able to play a little better with eight goals in the next two quarters, but Malaysia’s experience was just too good for the sport’s newbies. The game ended with a triple-digit gap for the 2001 SEA Games gold medalist.
U23 Azkals drops curtain raiser to hosts
Photo from The Straits Times Singapore facebook page
In the evening cap, the Philippines lost to Singapore, 0-1, in a thrilling match, at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The hosts were dominant in the first half. A few seconds before halftime, the Young Lions were awarded a free kick. Sheikh Abdul Hadi made sure their efforts was rewarded as he converted on a glancing header from Sariful Sulaiman’s delivery.
This proved to be the lone goal that separated the two teams despite the efforts of both squads in the following period. University of the Philippines fullback Patxi Santos had the Philippines’ best chance of the game when he managed to link up with Paolo Salenga on the flank, but Santos could not finish on the run.
Despite several attempts coming from Singapore, the Young Azkals held their fort with good defense from the backline with Santos, Ian Clarino, Shirmar Felongco, and Neil Dorimon, and the commendable goalkeeping from Jun Badelic.
In an interview, the Global FC net custodian shared that team is focused on their goal of making the semifinals that is why they played the way they did in the game. Badelic ended, “di kami lumalaban dito para sa sarili namin. Lalaban kami para sa bayan, para sa mga supporters ng football, sa mga fans na nanonood, at kay God.”
Synchronized Swimming:
The Philippines returns to the SEA Games synchronized swimming competitions as Allyssa Salvador and Jemimah Tiambeng takes the pool in the duet technical and free routine event at 1pm at the OCBC Aquatic Center, Tuesday, June 2.
Netball:
Siklab Pilipinas returns to the court after two devastating losses and vows to bounce back against fellow winless team Myanmar at 1:30pm at the OCBC Arena Hall 1.
Table Tennis:
Table tennis action continues with Lariba and Balatbat taking on Feng Tianwei of Singapore and Mai Hoang My Trang of Vietnam, respectively, to start their women’s singles pools campaign. Balatbat’s match is set at 2:40pm, while Lariba battles at 3:20pm. Jacolo and Thailand’s Tanviriyavechakul duke it out at 4pm for their first matches in men’s singles pools. Gonzales will try to continue his winning streak as he faces Ficky Supit Santoso of Indonesia at the final session of the men’s singles matches at 4:40pm. All matches will be played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
