At A Glance
- BANGKOK — Kayla Sanchez reset the Southeast Asian Games record in the women's 50m backstroke just as the Philippine combat sports athletes positioned themselves for a huge medal haul as they advanced to several championship matches in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games on Thursday, Dec. 11 here.
BANGKOK — Kayla Sanchez reset the Southeast Asian Games record in the women’s 50m backstroke just as the Philippine combat sports athletes positioned themselves for a huge medal haul as they advanced to several championship matches in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games on Thursday, Dec. 11 here.
Sanchez clocked 28.57 seconds to top the preliminary heats and break the previous record of 28.89 seconds Masniari Wolf of Indonesia performed just two years ago in the meet’s edition in Cambodia.
The 24-year-old tanker is vying for another swimming gold in the finals being held as of press time at the SAT Swimming Pool.
Leading the way for Team Philippines was Kimberly Custodio who dominated her way to the gold medal round of the 48-kilogram class in the jiu jitsu ne-waza, including the huge victory over favorite and hometown bet Tan Pechrada Kacie of Thailand in the semifinals.
“Feeling ko ito yung pinakamahirap na laban kasi siya yung nakalaban ko nung 2022 finals at siya talaga iyong pinakamalakas na contender right now. Nagawa ko yung game plan ko sa kanya exactly kung ano yung na-prepare ko,” said Custodio.
She is facing up against Sugun Nutchaya as of press time for the chance to deliver the first jiu jitsu gold for the country at the Navaminda Kasatrihiraj Air Force Academy.
Also fighting for gold are men’s bets Yman Xavier Baluyo in the 69kg class and Dean Michael Roxas in the 85kg class.
Baluyo is facing Vietnamese Dang Dinh Tung while Roxas is vying for top spot against Singaporean Ee Aacus Huo Yu.
Kaila Napolis, Marc Alexander Lim and Vito Luzuriaga, on the other hand, bagged bronze medals in their respective weight classes.
Over at taekwondo, Clarence Sarza defeated Indonesia’s Ni Kadek Heni Prikasih to advance to the gold medal round in the women’s 49kg class while Kurt Barbosa settled for bronze after dropping to Vietnam;s Nguyen Hong Trong in the men’s 54kg.