Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—Team Philippines continued its dazzling performance with three golds, a silver and a bronze medal on the fourth day of competition in the 10th ASEAN Schools Games at the Mini-Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
After hauling five golds in the first three days of competition, a young hurdler, a table netter and the girls’ basketball squad bamboozled their rivals to raise their total gold medal hauled to eight in this annual event aimed to promote camaraderie and ASEAN solidarity through school sports.
Seventeen-year-old Eliza Cuyom turned in a blistering 14.45 seconds in outrunning rivals Liza Putri Ramandha of Indonesia (14.76) and Halimatul Saadia Binti Mohammed Raja of Malaysia (15.52) in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles.
Cuyom, a Grade 12 student of Nazareth School of National University, said her training and focus finally paid off as she needed to end her ASG stint on a high note.
Filipino table netter Jann Mari Nayre, the first Pinoy qualifier for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina next month, stunned rival Josh Chua Shao Han of Indonesia, 3-1, in their boys’ singles titular showdown at the SJK Kong Hoe Hall in Klang.
Over at the Gem in Mall in Cyberjaya, the girls’ basketball team demolished Singapore, 80-42, to clinch its second consecutive ASEAN Schools Games’ gold medal.
With the victory, Philippines achieved another feat of completing a four-game sweep for the second consecutive time.
The Philippines has a total of eight gold medals, nine silvers and 14 bronzes and currently ranks sixth in the 10-member competition, with two days of action remaining.
Over at the Darul Eshan Aquatic Centre in Shah Alam, Filipino tankers Jerard Dominic Jacinto and Samantha Therese Coronel also secured medals in the boys’ and girls’ backstroke events.
Jacinto checked in 57.72 seconds as he grabbed the silver in the boys’ 100m backstroke, just .53 second slower than the record of gold medalist Farrel Armandio Tangkas of Indonesia (57.25).
Tangkas’ teammate Dwiki Anugrah’ finished third (58.13).
Samantha Therese Coronel settled for the bronze in the 100m girls’ backstroke.