Wushu nets first SEAG golds for Team Philippines
The Philippines banked on wushu for its first medal, a silver, in the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar. The same sport also gave the Philippines its two gold medals as Jessie Aligaga and Denbert Arcita topped the 48- and 52-kilogram weight classes in wushu sanshou, respectively.
Aligaga bested Dasmantua Simbolon of Indonesia while Arcita toppled Phithak Paorkrathok of Thailand.
Two female athletes were also in the finals of the 48- and 52-kilogram wushu sanshou competitions but they settled for silver medals. Evita Zamora lost to Thoi Hoa Nguyen of Vietnam in the 52-kilogram division while athletes from Myanmar and Laos took home the bronze medals.
Divine Wally on the other hand dropped the gold to Vietnam’s Thih Chinh Nguyen in the 48-kilogran category with fighters from Malaysia and Indonesia settling for the bronze medals.
The Philippines also got its first bronze medal in wushu sanshou care of Francisco Solis in the 56-kilogram category.
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Meanwhile, in women's boxing, Nesthy Petecio defeated Tasamalee of Thailand to barge into the gold medal match of the 57-kg division on December 14 against Myanmar. This was announced by Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines head Ed Picson through his Twitter account.
Nesthy Petecio wins hard fight vs former nemesis Tasamalee of Thai! 39-37 on all judges. Will fight for gold on Dec14 vs Myanmar! Mabuhay!
— Ed Picson (@Edcaster) December 9, 2013
The Philippines also got a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling from Margarito Angana. He lost to Doi Dang Tien of Vietnam 55-kilogram weight class. The official tally of the Philippines is at 2-4-1 (gold-silver-bronze) to rise from ninth to sixth in the medal rankings.