Melvin Sacay ensured a gold medal for the Philippines as modern pentathlon made its return to the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, claiming victory in the men’s laser run individual event on Wednesday at Jomtien Beach in Pattaya City, Chonburi, Thailand.
Combining speed in the running segment with precision in the shooting portion, the 22-year-old finished with a time of 10:41.55, earning 659 LR points and opening the medal haul for the country’s modern pentathletes.
The Philippines had previously won two golds when the Olympic sport debuted at the Games in 2019, with Michael Ver Comaling triumphing in the men’s beach triathle, and Princess Honey Arbilon and Samuel German taking gold in the mixed beach laser event.
Arbilon also added a silver in the women’s event, finishing with a time of 13:29.32 (491 LR points), as hometown favorite Doiporn Pridasittinan dominated the race with 12:52.40 (528 LR points).
On the men’s side, Indonesia claimed silver through Fadhil Aulia Mufti (11:14.21, 626 LR points) and bronze through Rizky Taruna Graha (11:24.81, 616 LR points), while Vera Febrianti took bronze in the women’s event with 13:47.90 and 473 LR points.
Sacay secured the championship just minutes after Dhenver Castillo captured the men’s U19 iQFoil gold at the same venue.
