Gold rush begins

BANGKOK, Thailand — Taekwondo jin Justin Kobe Macario produced Team Philippines’ first gold in an eventful Wednesday that saw the withdrawal of Cambodia a day after the formal opening of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games here.

Macario delivered an impressive performance to top the men’s individual freestyle poomsae event at the Fashion Island Shopping Mall.

The former University of Santo Tomas star scored 8.200 points to edge five other entries.

“I was surprised that I’m the one to give the Philippines its first gold. I’m so happy because it’s a huge honor to bring home a gold medal for the country. Very thankful that the Lord gave me this gold,” the 23-year-old Macario said.

Thailand’s Atchariya Koedkaew finished with silver (8.100) while Malaysia’s Ken Haw Chin (7.740) and Singapore’s Darren Yap Zong Han (7.660) took the bronze medals.

Before the day ended, the team of Heather White, Chloe Isleta, Xiandi Chua and Kayla Sanchez bagged another gold, this time, in the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay event.

The Filipinas clocked three minutes and 44.26 seconds to outshine the quartet from Singapore (3:46.53 seconds) and Vietnam (3:47.47 seconds).

Taekwondo jins Rodolfo Reyes, King Alcario and Ian Corton took silver in the men’s recognized poomsae while swimmer Gian Santos also added silver in the men’s 200 medley at the Swimming Pool SAT.

Santos clocked 2:03.88 seconds behind gold medalist Hung Nguyen Tran (2:02.11). Vietnamese Quang Thuan Nguyen got bronze (2:04.19).

In Chonburi, mountain biker John Derrick Farr salvaged a bronze medal after falling short of claiming the country’s potential first goal earlier in the day in the men’s downhill competition.

Meanwhile, intensified border tension between the Cambodian and Thai forces reduced the regional biennial meet to just 10 nations following Cambodia’s withdrawal.

A statement issued by Vath Chamroeun, chief of the Olympic Committee of Cambodia, explained the delegation’s shocking decision to withdraw its participation.

“Due to serious concerns and requests from the families of our athletes to have their relatives return home immediately, NOCC must withdraw all of our delegation and arrange for their prompt return to Cambodia for safety reasons,” Chamroeun said.

Macario’s decision to skip the opening ceremonies parade at the Rajamangala National Stadium Tuesday night paid off.

“Yesterday we practiced four times before going here and we sacrificed missing the opening to prepare for this competition,” said Macario, who won a silver and a bronze in the mixed freestyle poomsae event in the 2021 and 2023 SEA Games.

Ranked third in the seeding run the day before, the 29-year-old Farr, from Las Piñas, kept his spot with a time of two minutes and 43.676 seconds as he edged teammate Simon Peter Servillon for the last podium slot.

Servillon, who debuted in the SEA Games at 20 years old, was just a couple of seconds slower, crossing the finish line in 2:45.866.

Thailand’s Methasit Boonsane defended his crown with a time of 2:37.856 as he narrowly beat Indonesia’s Rendy Varera Sanjaya (2:38.714) for the gold.

The bronze finish allowed Farr to continue his SEA Games medal streak after he ruled the event at home soil in 2019 and bagged bronze in Vietnam.

Downhill events were not held in 2023 in Cambodia.

In women’s action, 2019 champion Lea Denise Belgira missed out on the podium as she placed fourth with 3:22.478.

Thailand secured a 1-3 finish courtesy of gold winner Vipavee Deekaballes (3:03.289) and bronze medalist Kanokrat Ritthidet (3:06.778), while Indonesia’s Riska Amelia Agustina (3:04.874) clinched silver.

The Philippines also collected two bronze medals each in men’s sepak takraw and taekwondo (mixed team freestyle and recognized pair) and one from jiujitsu.

Team Philippines has collected 2-2-9 gold-silver-bronze medal haul as of press time of Day 1.

Host Thailand expectedly leads the medal tally as of 8 p.m. with 16-11-7 count, followed by Singapore (3-3-2), Indonesia (3-7-6), Vietnam (3-3-13), Myanmar (2-3-1) and Malaysia (2-1-6).

The Philippine baseball squad continued its roll with a fifth straight win in as many outings at the expense of Thailand, 8-7, in 10 innings at the Baseball Stadium Queen Sirikit Sports Center.