Analysis: History made once again. In a match that was already historic for taking place, the Philippine Azkals made sure that they would be the talk of the football world by beating Bahrain, a team they have never beaten before, 2-1.
Until last night, the closest the Azkals came to matching their
Middle Eastern opponents was about two years ago, when they held Bahrain
to a scoreless draw.
In a friendly a couple of months ago, the Azkals lost 2-1 but showed remarkable improvement in their management of the midfield.
Analysis: It seemed to be a typical Philippine Men's Volleyball Team match. Our players fought hard, had a couple of shining moments, some boneheaded ones but ultimately, could not get the job done against the Malaysians and, as John Vic de Guzman got blocked at the net, conceded the first set 20-25.
If the other 2 or three sets had the smae storyline, none of us would be surprised. In fact, maybe a lot of us expected it to be that way.
Except the team, known as Bagwis Pilipinas, had other plans.
Analysis: I'm as big a supporter of Philippine sports as anyone can get but because of my early training as a journalist, I also like to think that I'm objective (somewhat). And it's that training that forces me to say this: I'm not sure Cantancio deserved the gold medal.
5 gold medals, 3 silvers. That is our medal haul, after the smoke cleared in the gold medal matches of the SEA Games.
The gold winners included Josie Gabuco, Ian Clark Bautista, Mario Fernandez, Junel Cantancio, and Eumir Marcial while our silver medalists were Nesthy Petecio, Irish Magno and Rogen Ladon.
Yes, it's 1-1. The Cavs stole homecourt advantage from the Warriors with a pulsating win in overtime (again) 95-93.
This time, Lebron James notched a triple double, with a god-like stat line of 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. Matthew Dellavedova delivered on some key free throws and spot on defense, forcing Steph Curry into an airball with 4.4 seconds left in overtime.
So does this spell the end for the Warriors?
A championship (finally) for the Cavs?
The start of a Cavaliers dynasty?
Analysis: Eric Cray proved in the heats that he was the man to beat...and that nobody could beat him. The Filipino-American was never seriously challenged and won the gold in comfortable fashion.
Analysis: The Philippine campaign got off to a great start today, courtesy of Caleb John Stuart, who not only won the gold medal in the hammer throw but also shattered the old SEA Games record of 62.23 with an impressive throw of 65.63. The other Filipino in the event, Arniel Ferrera, came in fourth, with a throw of 60.08.
Stuart's achievement bodes well for the Philippines, as he is slated in compete in two more events, the discus throw and the shot put. If he keeps up this performance, he just might end up as the most bemedalled Philippine athlete in the SEA Games.
It's the 11th day of the Singapore SEA Games and the Philippines' medal tally stands at 7 golds, 10 silvers and 20 bronzes. The prediction of the Philippine Olympic Committee was 50 golds, a tall task with just 8 days left in the Games.
But the upcoming days are chock full of gold medal matches, so there is still hope. Especially if the members of the Philippine National Boxing Team live up to their billing.
Analysis: Nothing spices up a boxing match more than history and bad blood...and the match between Thailand's Saylom Ardee and our very own Junel Cantancio had more than its share of bad blood and history. 2 years ago, when last they met, Ardee came away with the gold medal while Cantancio settled for the silver. Now, this bout was premature in that these two bitter foes were meeting at the semifinal stage instead of the gold medal match...but the stakes are much higher as the loser not only forgoes the gold medal but even the silver. So this match had the frenetic urgency that only desperate men can summon...and summon it they did. This was a fight that had long toe-to-toe exchanges mixed in with several takedowns (yes, for a round or so, it looked like a UFC fight instead of a boxing match) and the odd cheap shots thrown in for good measure. At the end of the day, Cantancio won but only by split decision, one that I actually agreed with. Cantancio did not win convincingly but Ardee was also the biggest stumbling block in Cantancio's quest for gold and getting past him was a great achievement by itself. Of course, now, Cantancio has no excuses not to win the gold medal.
Analysis: When Fernandez dropped Myanmar's Naing Latt at the 20th second of the first round, every one knew it was a done deal. Fernandez caught Latt wiht another combination to the face midway through the round and then dropped Latt again with 11 seconds left in the round to post the Philippine boxing team's most convincing victory so far. Latt was, as is the case with most of the SEA Games boxers, fearless and eager to press the action. But Fernandez was simply out of Latt's league, being so much faster and much more skilled. His combinations were lethal and you could see the disparity in footwork and glove speed whent he two came in close to exchange blows.
Analysis: The outcome was never in doubt and Ian Clark Bautista just served notice to Singapore's Mohamed Hamid that winning the gold medal here will be the hardest thing Hamid will ever do in his career. The young Filipino controlled the contest with lightning quick counters, letting the taller Laotian initiate the action then launching cracking counter attacks at the gaps of the Laotian's defense. Thongbang Seuaphom never backed down, and maybe he should have, if only to avoid the thunderous left hook Bautista threw to knock him senseless and out of the bout.
Bautista now faces the Herculean task of winning over the hometown bet. But somehow, I think he'll come out of that match with the gold medal clutched in his glove.
Analysis: Rogen Ladon came with it. That's the best way to put it. He put on a display of speed, strength and technique and was very rarely in trouble. In fact, what was most impressive about Ladon in this bout was his speed. Very rarely is the bigger man the faster one but that exactly was the case here. Ladon had more opportunities to showcase his ring management skills here and you could see just how focused he was on getting to the gold medal round. He will face Kornelis Langu of Indonesia for the gold medal.
Analysis: Had Thailand's Sopida Satumrum won the bout, no one would have objected, least of all Irish Magno. She knew that it go either way, which is why she feel to her knees in joy when she was announced the winner by split decision. It was a very even match, with both fighters being aggressive, scoring points on big punches, lots of combinations and bobbing happening. What worries me about Magno is that she does a lot of things competently but no one thing exceptionally. That could prove to be the difference between a gold medal and a silver.
Still, congratulations on a job well done, Irish Magno!
Analysis: For several seconds during the match, I kept thinking how Manny Pacquiao managed to suit up in Josie Gabuco's jersey. That's how deadly Gabuco was, firing off 6 punch flurries for every combination her opponent threw. But don't get me wrong, it wasn't an easy match for Gabuco. Singapore's Leona Hui came ready for the throwdown, never backing down from Gabuco, despite getting hit over and over again. She threw several shots that clearly connected and bothered Gabuco and it is a testament to gabuco's mental fortitude that she shook off those shots and went back to throwing lightning quick combinations. Hui may have lost the fight but she certainly didn't get beaten badly. Gabuco was simply too quick, too skilled to be denied a shot at the gold.
Analysis: Easily the most lopsided bout for Team Philippines so far. Junel Cantancio started taking Graciano Florindo de Jesus apart in the very first second and never let up. In fairness to the Timor Leste fighter, he tried to give as good as he got but Cantancio's speed and technique was just too much. Two cracking hits to the head with barely any hand defense was enough to seal the deal for the ref.
Analysis: Undeniably one of the most exciting bouts of the Games so far. Ladon vs Mohd Redzuan is so action packed it looked like a sequence from the Rocky movie series. Both Ladon and Mohd Redzuan were attacking fighters, so both were aggressive in taking the fight to each other. Ladon was the better counter puncher though and that, I think, spelled the difference between moving on to the medal rounds and going home empty handed. That being said, this fight was so even that if Mohd Redzuan was from Singapore, he would have won it. As such, it was a split decision for Ladon and has the decision gone Mohd Redzuan's way, it would have been much deserved too. In the second round, Mohd Redzuan actually rocked Ladon twice with clear cut power punches. Fortunately, Ladon got one back with about 25 seconds left in the round, paving the way to the W via split decision.
Congrats Rogen Ladon and good bout, Muhamad Mohd Redzuan.
Analysis: Thought our boys performance was good enough for gold but with Team Singapore also putting on a strong routine, it was inevitable for the hometown team to win. The close score (SG's 9.72 vs the Philippines 9.70) shows just how well the boys performed (to watch their performance at 14:20). The Philippine team showcased good speed, power, grace and theatrics, and it's hard to say in which area they were outperformed in. Not to say, of course, the Signaporeans didn't deserve the gold, just that both squad gave gold-worthy performances and that if the SEA Games was in Manila, the Philippine team would have gone away with the gold medal.
Congratulations to Norlence Catolico, John Chan, and Daniel Parantac!
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is real! These girls can really put on a fight!
Analysis: The Philippine duo put on a good show put came in last (for their performance, go to the 7:30 mark). To my inexperienced eye, the pair had grace and speed in spades but what they lacked was power and precision. Several times, they made moves that should have made contact but didn't, or that made a faint clink. By the end, one of them was obviously slowing down her pace to allow her partner to catch up. If I noticed that (and again, I am not a very experienced wushu watcher). then I'm pretty sure the judges noticed that too.
Still, these girls have made us proud. Salamat at mabuhay kayo, Kariza Chan and Natasha Enriquez.
Analysis: Ian Clark Bautista was clearly the superior boxer, being both the aggressive attacker as well as a good counter puncher. Mohd Nor did catch him a few times but those times came way too few. Bautista either just scored points at will, peppering Mohd Nor with strong right hooks. By the third round, Mohd Nor already looked unsteady at the knees, leading Bautista's corner to instruct Bautista to go for the knockout with around 10 seconds left in the bout. Bautista landed a couple more good shots but Mohd Nor survived the round. Still, it was a dominant showing by the 20 year old, which bodes well for the Filipino boxing campaign.
