PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A late-night gold rush from taekwondo, tennis, and boxing gave the Philippines a much-needed shot in the arm Saturday evening in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games here.
Five of the six gold medals came from the Chroy Changvar Convention Center in Phnom Penh, where the bulk of combat sports are taking place in this year’s biennial meet.
Kurt Barbosa (men’s -54kg), Arven Alcantara (men’s -68kg), Samuel Morrison (men’s -87kg), and Kirstie Alora (women’s -73kg) won all their respective division finals and gave the Philippines four gold medals.
A gold medal by Ian Clark Bautista in the men’s 57kg boxing and another gold by men’s tennis doubles partners Ruben Gonzales and Francis Alcantara at the Morodok Techo National Sports Complex adds to the gold medal haul, which is now at 37 gold medals, as of this writing.
On Sunday, Olympians Eleen Ando of weightlifting and Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam will try to add more gold medals for the Philippines.
