MICHAEL Comaling completes his redemption drive after winning the title in the beach triathlon event of modern pentathlon. JONAS REYES

SUBIC — Michael Comaling’s quest for redemption paid off as he copped the gold medal in the beach triathlon event of modern pentathlon of the 30th Southeast Asian Games Friday at the Subic boardwalk here.

The 19-year-old Ormoc City native dominated the tough field in the shoot-swim-run course after clocking 17 minutes and 8.87 seconds to contribute to the country’s golden harvest.

His performance was 10.97 seconds faster than silver medalist Phurit Yohuang of Thailand and 28.89 seconds ahead of bronze medalist Muhammad Taufic of Indonesia.

More than that, it was a perfect bounce-back win for Comaling, who finished seventh place in the laser-run individual event.

“Actually, winning that game was very manageable, but I ran out of gas since I didn’t eat prior the competition,” Comaling said.

“I learned my lesson from coaches who inspire me. They told me that I should learn from it, forget the past and focus on the present.”

“That’s why I ate my pre-game meal. It gave me the energy to win.”

Comaling’s teammate Dexter Ardemer finished seventh with a time of 22:05.51.

In the distaff side, luck was on the side of Princess Arbilon.

Arbilon finished with a time of 21:29.36 for a fourth-place finish. But Sanruthai Aransiri of Thailand, who was running third, was penalized during the shoot part of the race that sent the Filipino on top of the podium.

“I lost my focus on shooting,” said Arbilon, who won the gold medal in the mixed relay of the beach laser-run.

“When I noticed that I was already at fifth spot, I gave my all, thinking that I would still emerge victorious even if it would be a bronze.”

Dea Salsabila Putri of Indonesia won her second gold with a time of 19:52.73 while compatriot Cintya Nariska finished second with 20:02.02.