Arnel Mandal delivered the lone gold for the wushu sanda squad after beating Indonesian rival Laksamana Pandu Pratama in the men's 56kg category of the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the Cau Giay Gymnasium in Hanoi, Vietnam Sunday, May 15.
Mandal and Laksamana figured in a rematch more than two years later after their duel in the 2019 SEA Games here in the Philippines.
But it was Mandal who still had the last laugh and prevailed this time as he scored 2-0 against Laksamana.
The Filipino wushu fighter, who was the reigning champion in the 52kg of the 2019 SEA Games, repeated over the Indonesian in the final.
Earlier, multi-titled wushu artist Agatha Wong brought home the first gold medal for the national wushu team after reigning supreme in the women's taijijian.
Meanwhile, Gideon Fred Padua (men's 60kg), Clemente Tagubara Jr. (men's 70kg), Francis Solis (men's 65kg), and Divine Wally (women's 48kg), all settled for bronze after losing to their respective opponents in the semifinal on May 14, Saturday.