Southeast Asian Games
Yulo wrapped his second SEA Games campaign with five gold medals. Reigning World Champion Caloy Yulo brought five gold and two silver medals for the Philippines. He won gold in men’s individual all-around, men’s vault table, men’s floor exercise, men’s high bar, and men’s rings. Silver medals came from men’s parallel bars and men’s team artistic gymnastics events.
📷 : European Pressphoto Agency / Luong Thai Linh
Amit delivered the first gold in billiards, her sixth in the SEA Games. Rubilen Amit dominated Singapore’s Jessica Chan, 7-2, in the finals of the women’s 9-ball singles event. In the men’s 9-ball singles event, Johann Chua outplayed 2021 US Open champion Carlo Biado in the all-Filipino finals. Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco dela Cruz settled for bronze medals in men’s 1-cushion carom.
📷 : Philippine Sports Commission / Philippine Olympic Committee
Cray completed a five-peat in 400-meter hurdles. Eric Cray bagged his fifth straight SEA Games gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles event. He clocked 50.41 seconds, close to 50.82 of Vietnam’s Cong Lich Quach.
📷 : Reuters / Chalinee Thirasupa
Diaz successfully defended her crown. Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz captured her second straight SEA Games gold medal after lifting a total of 206 kilograms in the women’s minus-55 kilogram. Rio de Janeiro Olympics gold medalist Sunikun Tanasan of Thailand lifted 203 kilograms for a runner-up finish.
📷 : Reuters / Chalinee Thirasupa
Barbosa defended his taekwondo crown. Olympian Kurt Barbosa successfully defended his men’s minus-54 kyorugi gold against Thailand’s Panachai Jaijulla, 16-7. The Philippine taekwondo team collected three silver medals as Dave Cea, Kirstie Alora, and Jessica Canabal suffered defeats in their respective gold medal matches.
Isleta ended Filipina swimmers’ 29-year gold drought. Chloe Isleta bagged the gold medal in the women’s 200-meter backstroke swimming event. She clocked 2:18.60, more than a second ahead of Indonesia and Thailand swimmers. Isleta, Desirae Mangaoang, Jasmine Alkhadi, and Miranda Renner bagged a silver medal in the women’s 4×100 medley relay, behind Singapore’s powerhouse team.
Richardson bagged gold and bronze medals. Swimmer Kayla Richardson won the gold medal in the women’s 100-meter event after clocking 11.60 seconds, 0.02 faster than Singapore’s Shanti Pereira. In the 200-meter event, she settled for a bronze medal.
Philippine Dancesport bagged 12 medals. Sean Mischa Aranar and Ana Leonila Nualla collected three gold medals in Dancesport. They retained their crowns in the five dances, individual dances in tango and Viennese waltz. Overall, the Philippines finished with five gold, five silvers, and two bronze medals in the Dancesport.
The Philippines scored gold in Muay. Islay Bomogao and Rhichein Yosorez won gold in the women’s waikru and mai muay doubles. They scored 8.68 to edge Vietnam with 8.56.
SIBOL Men retained the crown in MLBB. Philippine men’s E-Sports team won the gold medal against Indonesia in the finals of the men’s division of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
SIBOL Women swept Singapore in Wild Rift. Philippine women’s E-Sports team swept Singapore in the finals of the women’s division of League of Legends Wild Rift.
Furukawa, Nakano won golds in Judo. Filipino-Japanese Rena Furukawa won her first-ever SEA Games gold medal after beating Myanmar’s Myat Noe Wai in the women’s minus-57 kilogram judo event. Filipino-Japanese Shugen Nakano retained his crown in the men’s minus-66 kilogram judo event after beating Vietnam’s Truong Hoang Phuc.
Pinoy keglers won gold. Merwin Tan, who won a gold medal in the singles event, led the Philippine bowling team to another gold medal in the men’s team-of-four event.
The Philippines ended the medal drought in the men’s table tennis doubles. John Russel Misal and Richard Gonzales won a silver medal in the men’s doubles—the first SEA Games medal in the event in 11 years.
The Philippines collected four bronze medals in Karate. The Philippine karate team settled for four bronze medals in the SEA Games. Jamie Lim won over Malaysia’s Murugeesan Mathivani, 1-0, in the bronze medal match of the women’s individual kumite minus-61. Jason Macalay won bronze over Thailand’s Siwakon Muekthong, 1-0, in the men’s individual kumite minus-60. Kata artists Rebecca Cyril Torres and Joco Vasquez bagged the bronze medals in individual women’s and men’s events.
The Philippine beach volleyball teams bagged bronze medals. The Philippines outplayed Vietnam in both men and women divisions of beach volleyball to win two bronze medals.
Malixi’s heroics resulted in a bronze medal. Rianne Malixi’s clutch performance brought a bronze medal for the Philippines in the women’s golf team match.
Gilas Men started 4-0 but barely escaped Thailand in the opener. On May 16th, the Philippine men’s basketball team completed a comeback against Thailand and escaped with a 76-73 victory. The six-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo lifted Gilas with a huge double-double of 28 points and 12 rebounds. Thirdy Ravena added 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. A day after, birthday boy Lebron Lopez had 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 5 rebounds in a 100-32 domination over Cambodia. On May 18th, Roger Pogoy and Lopez scored 19 and 18, respectively, in an easy 88-37 win against Singapore. On May 19th, the Philippines faced a tough stand from the home team Vietnam in the first quarter, before breaking away with an 88-60 victory. Fajardo lifted the Gilas men again, finishing with 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting, and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes of play.
Gilas Women started 3-0. The Philippine women’s basketball team made 17 three-pointers in the 118-87 victory against the home team Vietnam. Khate Castillo scored 25 and made 7 treys, while Afril Berardino and Gabi Bade added 14 points each.
UAAP Season 84 Women’s Volleyball
Laure brought UST to solo third; UP dropped the last three games. Eya Laure scored 23 as the University of Santo Tomas snapped Adamson University’s three-game winning streak in five sets. De La Salle University swept the University of the Philippines behind Justine Jazareno’s game-high 16 points.
📷 : UAAP Media
NU remained undefeated in the first six games, and Ateneo had a hat-trick. On May 16th, National University quickly finished their match against Far Eastern University in three sets. Ateneo de Manila University took a third straight win via a four-set victory against the University of the East.
Miscellaneous
Ramos did not sign with Toyama. Dwight Ramos has signed with Levanga Hokkaido for the next Japan B.League season. In his first season as a professional, he averaged 10.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals in 46 games with the Grouses. Toyama only finished seventh in the west with a 24-35 win-loss record.