Angel Derla led the charge for the Philippine Kun bokator national team, breaking through with a gold in the women’s single bamboo shield form at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games on Thursday at Hall C of the Changvar Convention Centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Derla snagged the title – the second gold for the country – over hometown bet Puth Chanchhorvy, who settled for silver, with a slim 8.50 to 8.43 win. Indonesia’s Daslya Anggraini and Myanmar’s Myat Noe Wai finished with the bronze medals, scoring 8.42 and 7.42 points, respectively.
Kun bokator is an ancient Khmer martial art that is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, and it is making its Games debut in this edition in its homeland.
On the competition’s opening day, three more kun bokator artists added two silvers and a bronze medal to the haul.
Mark James Lacao finished second to Cambodia’s Kim Titsovathanak in the men’s side of the same event, 8.25 to the latter’s 7.75. Another Indonesian, Gema Nur Arifin, and Laos’ Annaosone Vannalatha completed the podium with 7.67 and 7.42, respectively.
In the women’s single barehand form, Rhichein Yosorez finished in second place with a score of 7.33, behind hometown bet Shanchana Yuos, who scored 7.74. Alyssa Mallari’s 8.08 pocketed the bronze to complete the day’s haul after a third-place finish in women’s single bokator spirit form.
Host Cambodia leads the medal tally with four golds and two silvers, with the Philippines just behind with its 1-2-1 gold-silver-medal haul. Laos took the other gold of the day to come in third, along with three bronzes.
