Hanoi—All she wanted was for her comatose father to be proud of her. She ended up making an entire nation proud and grateful.
Mary Francine Padios put the Philippines in the Southeast Asian Games’ gold-medal table when the pretty 18-year-old Kalino, Aklan native ruled on Wednesday pencak silat’s women’s semi (artistic or form) tunggal single competition at the Bac Tu Lien Gymnasium here.
In winning the Philippines’ first gold, Padios improved on the silver she won in the Philippines 2019 edition of the games.
But on a more personal note, Padios said she was motivated to be at her best as she was inspired by her father and no.1 fan Jerome, who suffered misfortune just before Christmas.
“My dad has become my inspiration after he figured in a terrible car accident on her way home in Aklan just before Christmas,” said Padios, whose dad has fallen into a coma since. “He was so exhausted and drowsy from work he slept before the wheel and met the accident.”
“He has been motivating me ever since,” said Padios, whose 9.960 score bested favorite Arum Sari of Indonesia who settled for silver with 9.945.
Vietnam bolstered its bid to snatch the overall title from the Philippines, having amassed a front-running haul of seven gold, five silver, and seven bronze medals as of 5 p.m. (Hanoi time) on Wednesday.
Padios’s golden feat lit the Philippine campaign here that met some stiff winds in kurash, beach handball, football, and rowing.
The national kurash athletes won 2 silver medals courtesy of Helen Aclopen (women’s -48kg) and Charmea Quelino (women’s -52kg), who also came up with bronze medals courtesy of George Baclagan and Renzo Cazeñas.
On Tuesday, Filipino beach handball players gave Vietnam but eventually lost in a shootout 14-12, 18-12 (8-10) to settle for a silver medal that coach Joanna Franquelli said shone like gold.
“I am really proud of what the team has accomplished in two years that we were not able to train together because of the restrictions due to COVID-19, but we’re happy with the result,” Franquelli, a former national athlete in basketball and fencing, said.
“We exceeded expectations, and no one expected us to get this silver. They were expecting Vietnam and Thailand to slug it out for the gold, but it turned out that we’re the one who fought for the gold, and it was a close one,” Franquelli added.
Pinoy rowers made their presence felt on other fronts despite using borrowed boats, bagging a silver and bronze medal, respectively, in the men’s doubles lightweight sculls and women’s quadruple sculls at the Thu Nguyen Boat Racing Center in Hai Phong Bay.
Tokyo Olympic Games veteran Cris Nievarez and Christian Joseph Jasmin settled for the silver with a time of seven minutes and .05.585 seconds, finishing behind the Indon tandem of Ardi Kasadi and Kakan Usmana (7:01.385).
Joannie del Gaco, Amelyn Pagulauyan, Mireille Cua, and Kristine Paraon bagged the bronze by clocking 7:28.879 and contributed to the country’s medal output for the day.
In football, Myanmar threw a monkey wrench on the Philippines’ Under-23 squad’s semifinal bid last Tuesday night by scoring a stunning 3-2 come-from-behind win at the Viet Tri Stadium in Phu Tho province.
Up 2-1 at the half, the Filipinos saw their goal of entering the semifinals for the first time stymied as Lwin Moe Aung and Soe Moe Kyaw struck in quick succession in the 51st and 53rd minutes, respectively, to lift the Burmese on top of Group A with their second straight win, good for six points.
Veteran striker Jovin Bedic scored a brace in the 34th and 38th minutes but his heroics went for naught as the charges of coach Norman Fegidero absorbed their first loss in three matches and remained in second place with four points.
They were still ahead on goal difference – 4-3 – over defending champion Vietnam, which also had four points on a win and the scoreless draw with the Philippines last Sunday.
The Filipino booters will have a much-needed two-day respite before they battle Indonesia in a must-win match tomorrow at the 16,000-seat Viet Tri Stadium in the Phu Tho provincial capital, 70 kilometers northwest of Hanoi.
They will also be hoping the Burmese can also upend the reigning champions the same day which would pave the way for the Philippines to reach the men’s semis for the first time since the national squad bannered by Fegidero last achieved the feat in the 1991 Manila SEA Games.
Meanwhile, acting Presidential spokesman Martin Andanar congratulated the Padios for bringing honor to the country.
“Congratulations. We are proud of you. Good luck to the rest of our athletes in Team Philippines. Mabuhay ang atletang Pinoy sa Hanoi,” Andanar said in a statement.