|
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand: The Philippines raked in four gold
medals Friday to post its best finish in the Fourth Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Para Games at the sprawling His
Majesty The King’s 80th Anniversary Stadium here.
Josephine Medina ruled the singles Class 8 for
her fifth gold medal while Minnie de Ramos added another golden
effort by ruling the singles Class 10 to make it a six-gold hold
haul for the RP table tennis team.
Power lifter Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta ruled the
82.5-kilogram class validating her status as the best in the sport
after she twice made record-breaking lifts of 112.5kg and 115kg.
In athletics, Isidro Vildosola showed why he’s
the best middle distance runner in the Games by ruling the
1,500-meter race in four minutes and 36.96 seconds, besting
Malaysian Ahmad Rafee Arifin and Vietnamese Doan Cong Manh, who
finished second and third places in 4:37.09 and 4:38.28,
respectively.
But it was Medina who fashioned out the most
spectacular performance among the 88-athlete strong Filipinos here
as she finished the biennial meet with an impressive five-gold medal
haul she capped with her second individual mint.
Medina, a 33-year-old double gold medalist in
the 2005 Manila Para Games, slammed Indonesian Suwatri Suwatri,
11-3, 11-7, 11-4, in the race-to-three sets finale that underscored
her dominance of the sport.
“I dedicate this to our countrymen, this is
for them,” said Medina, a former Polytechnic University of the
Philippines standout who topped the 1987 National Open in spite of a
shorter left leg caused by polio during her childhood, in Filipino.
Medina also reigned in the double Class 10 with
Purification Mingarine, singles Open Class 6-10, doubles Open Class
6-10 with Minnie de Ramos and the Team Class 10 with de Ramos and
Mingarine again.
At press time, the Philippines have 17 gold, 21
silver and 19 bronze medals for fifth place overall, besting
Myanmar’s last-day challenge after the latter finished with 12
gold, 11 silver and nine bronze medals.
The fifth-place finish was the best effort by
the Filipinos, whose previous best was when they landed sixth
overall in the 2005 Manila edition.
|
