Wonder Woman

BANGKOK, Thailand — A now six-time wushu golden girl and a group of judokas played sweet music for Team Philippines on a gloomy Sunday to drown out the dampening fall of celebrated lifter Hidilyn Diaz.

Agatha Wong displayed a mix of grace and power in convincing the judges to hand her the top podium finish in the women’s taijiquan and taijijian event of wushu at the Ratthaprasasanphakdi Building Government Complex here.

The 27-year-old wushu star earned 9.783 points for the mint that hiked her collection in the biennial meet to six since 2017.

“I feel like every time I go to the SEA Games I’m gonna lose. I flew to Bangkok really scared but I’m going home as a champion. So, it’s very emotional for me,” Wong said.

The med school student bested Brunei’s Lachkar Basma (9.780 points) and Singapore’s Law Zeanne Zhi Ning (9.766 points).

Wong ruled the taijiquan in the 2017, 2019 and 2021 editions and taijijian in 2019 and 2021. She copped a gold in Cambodia two years ago when taijiquan and taijijian became a single event.

Meanwhile, judokas Joemari Heart Rafael, Leah Jhane Lopez and Khrizzie Pabulayan triumphed in the mixed team event of judo, beating Thailand at the Rajamangala Auditorium University of Technology Thanyaburi in Pathum Thani.

The pair of mints hiked the Philippines’ gold haul to 17 to go with 29 silvers and 66 bronze as of 8 p.m.

Four more gold medals are expected to come from the practical shooting team in Chonburi with Rolly Nathaniel Tecson (men’s Open Practical Shooting Standard, Genesis Pible (women’s open practical shooting production optic), Edcel John Gino (men’s open practical shooting production optic) and Erin Mattea Micor (women’s open practical shooting) all leading in their respective events leading to today’s final round.

However, the modest goal of replicating the 58 gold medals from two years ago in Phnom Penh is now looking bleak.

Diaz’s fourth place finish in the women’s in the women’s 58kg division compounded the woes of the 1,600-strong Philippine delegation.

The Tokyo Olympics gold medalist had a total lift of 200 kilograms after hitting 90 in the snatch and 110 in the clean and jerk at the Chonburi Sports School.

Diaz, 34, missed the podium in her return to the SEA Games after her gold conquest in the Hanoi edition in 2022 in the 55kg class.  

Yodsarn Suratwadee of Thailand got the gold medal (224kg total) with Natasya Beteyob of Indonesia taking the silver (218kg total).

Diaz apologized for her failure to land a medal, admitting her preparation wasn’t at its best physically and mentally. The two-time SEA Games gold medalist is bothered by an injury in her right knee, and hasn’t competed for almost two years.

“First, I want to say sorry but I did my best. And this is my best for now because I have an injury and having difficulty dropping weight. But it’s not an excuse. At the end of the day, I didn’t give up. I did prepare but I’m happy to represent our country,” Diaz said.

Thailand virtually owns the overall championship with 125-80-46 gold-silver-bronze haul. Indonesia sports a 39-56-51 tally as the Thais closest pursuer in the 10-nation meet.