UPDATE: PH Slips to 5th Place in SEA Games

UPDATE: The Philippines has now dropped to the fifth place in the Southeast Asian Games

Filipinos have been struggling to get gold medals in recent days at the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam, managing only to get 2 gold medals, which have caused the Philippines to dip into the 5th place in the sporting event.

The Philippine men’s bowling team, consisting of Merwin Tan, Christian Dychangco, Ivan Malig, and Patrick Nuqui, started the day for the Philippines on a winning note, adding the team-of-4 gold to the singles triumph of Tan last Monday.

However, Filipino athletes did not win gold medals since then, until judoka Rena Furukawa Lanoy topped Chu Myat Noe Wai of Myanmar 1-0 in the finals of the women’s minus 57kg class at the Hoai Duc Gymnasium.

The recently won gold medals brought the gold medal count of the Philippines to 40, which includes the victory of the Philippine women’s League of Legends: Wild Rift team last Wednesday.

The victory of the Wild Rift team marks the first time the Philippines won gold in an eSport event in the SEA games.

The Philippines so far has a medal haul of 40 gold medals, 57 silvers, and 78 bronze medals. Meanwhile, Singapore has a tally of 40 gold medals, 41 silver medals, and 53 bronze medals which places them at fifth.

As of writing, Vietnam continues to dominate the SEA Games with a tally of 150 gold medals, 90 silver medals, and 82 bronze medals at press time, Thailand improved to 62 gold medals, 65 silver medals, and 95 bronze medals, while Indonesia moves to third place with a tally of 42 gold medals, 60 silver medals, and 56 bronze medals.

First Philippine gold medalist of the Olympics Hidilyn Diaz is favored to win the 55kg weightlifting crown Friday.

Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial also reached the finals after he gave 21-year-old Peerapat Yeasungnoen of Thailand a beating of a lifetime as Marcial scored a second-round referee-stopped contest. (GFB)