SEAG: PH athletics, archery, golf, cycling wRap

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – A Filipino-American hurdler and a trio of archers gave the Philippines two gold medals Tuesday, December 17, at the 27th Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar.

Eric Cray ruled the 400-meter hurdles in 51.29 seconds making him the fourth Filipino to rule this event since the 1981 meet in Manila.

Andrian of Indonesia was a far second with 51.74 followed by defending champion Xuan Cuong Dao of Vietnam in 51.79, according to national coach Roselyn Hamero in her Facebook account.

Earl Yap, Dean Adriano and Ian Chipeco were three behind Malaysia in the last three arrows but they hit the bullseye for a perfect 30, ABS-CBN News reported. Government sports radio dzSR said Chipeco keyed the Filipinos’ rally.

The Philippines has 14 golds, 20 silvers and 24 bronze medals in this biennial event.

Another track and field gold could be in the offing Wednesday, December 18, when the second half of the men’s decathlon resumes. Jeeson Cid, an FEU education graduate from Dingras, Ilocos Norte led with 3864 points followed by Zakaria Malik of Indonesia with 3,651 points.

Cid surged to the lead with a personal best of 10.85 in the 100 meters and 7.03 in the long jump and 48.37 in the 400 meters, according to Hamero in a message at Facebook.

Merwin Guarte finished second in the men’s 800 meters, a Malaysian sports website reported. Mohd Jironi Riduan of Malaysia won in 1:50.98 to edge Guarte, the Philippine record holder in the 1,500 meters. Guarte timed 1:51.51.

In golf, the women’s squad took the lead in the individual and team events going into the final round. dzSR said Princess Superal led by six strokes in the individual event.

Cycling got a huge lift after organizers refused a Malaysian appeal to remove two climbs in today’s 163 road race, dzSR said. This favors the Philippines since the squad, led by gold medallist Mark Galledo, are considered superior climbers. –Rappler.com