Wrestling, wushu triumphs keep RP in the forefront
By Gemma Limpin

Hitting a snag in other fronts including allegations of unfair play, the Philippines turned to the contact sport of wrestling and the ancient Chinese martial arts of wushu to keep the fire burning in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games Wednesday.

The host Filipinos captured four of six gold medals that went up for grabs in wrestling, three of 11 in wushu and two of three in rowing to keep defending champion Vietnam at bay going into the halfway mark of the nine-day, 11 nation biennial conclave.

Along with triumphs in swimming, diving, fencing, rowing and taekwondo, Filipino athletes romped off with 13 gold medals for the day to jack up their tally to 54 ,still way ahead of Vietnam which could only come up with six golds for a total of 30.

Thailand, showing strength in athletics, remained in third with 23 followed by Malaysia at 20.

The host’s golden romp, however was spoiled by a wire report quoting the Prime Minister of Thailand as decrying the unfair officiating in the Games following the controversial 4-5 loss of Athens Olympic bronze medalist Yoowapa Boorapolchai to Filipina Loraine Catalanin their taekwondo flyweight match at the Cuneta Astrodome Tuesday night.

The Philippine Southeast AsianOrganizing Committee, however, in a statement said that while it respects the concern of the Thai PM, it stressed that the conduct of the various sporting events is not in the hands of the hosts but under the supervision and control of the SEAG Federation and its pool of international referees and judges coming from the participating countries.

"Team Philippines stands together with the other participating countris including Thailand in the commitment to the highest standard s of sportsmanship and fair play in the games," the statement said.

Athletic bet Eduardo Buenavista’s controversial disqualification in the 5,000 meter run late in the afternoon at the Rizal Memorial track oval only further fanned the issue.

The 26-year old many-time SEA Games gold medalists won the event alright but was stripped of the gold after he was later found to have cut the path of Thai rival Boonthung Srisung in the last 50 meters. Srisung was eventually declared the winner of the tightly-fought race.“He tried to cheat in front of his countrymen,” a Thai reporter said of Buenavista’s desperate act.The latest setback – after his stunning loss in the 10,000 meter Tuesday also against Tongmit - left the diminutive runner without a gold medal for the first time since 2001 as only the marathon events are to be disputed in athletics.Sheila Mae Perez and rower Benjie Tolentino left no doubt that they can win on their own.Sheila Mae Perez Perez bagged a third straight gold medal in diving while rower Benjie Tolentino joined the elite group of double gold medal winners, providing the highlight to another eventful day for the host nation.

The 20-year old Perez began the Filipinos’ campaign for the day by turning back Malaysian Leong Mun Yee to rule the 1-meter springboard event at the Trace Aquatics Center in Los Banos, becoming the first local athlete to win three gold medals in the meet counting her wins in the 3-m synchronized springboard and 3-m springboard event. Not to be outdone, the 6-foot-1 Tolentino came through with back-to-back victories in the single sculls event and men’s pairs – in tandem with Jose Rodriguez – by mid-afternoon in an inspiring comeback that set the tone for the Filipinos’ campaign the rest of the day.Tolentino thus joined wushu artist Willy Wang and billiard players Ronnie Alcano and Leonardo `Dodong’ Andam among the list of double gold winners. Also winning golds in other fronts were Eduardo Foloyang (70kgs), Rene Catalan (48 kgs) and Rhea May Rifani (52 kgs) in wushu, wrestlers Christina Villanueva (51 kgs) and Gemma Silverio (59kgs), the tandem of CJ Suarez and Ernesto Gatchalian Jr in bowling’s men’s doubles, swimmer Miguel Molina in the 200-meter individual medley, the 4x100 meter team of Ernie Candelario, Kashus Peronas, Jimar Aing and Julies Nieras in athletics and Japoy Lizardo in the pinweight division of taekwondo.

At least 36 gold medals are up for grabs today including eight in swimming and four each in the sport of shooting and judo, where veteran John Baylon seeks a seventh straight SEA Games gold.

SEA GAMES PHILIPPINES [http://www.2005seagames.com.ph/]