RP surpasses ’98 Asiad feat

BUSAN — The final battle was won in 9-ball doubles as predicted, but the biggest news that came the Filipinos’ way in the 14th Asian Games Monday was that the Philippines is now assured of surpassing its gold medal haul four years ago in Bangkok.

Francisco "Django" Bustamante, who carried the RP flag in last week’s opening ceremony, kept it hoisted at the Dongju College Gymnasium here as he teamed up with Antonio Lining in winning the gold over Korea’s Jeong Young-Hwa and Kim Won-Suk, 11-9.

Lining sank the winning shot, worth P1.5 million from the Philippine Sports Commission, to give the Philippines its second gold medal halfway through the biggest Asian Games in history, counting the first one won by bowlers Paeng Nepomuceno and RJ Bautista in the men’s doubles last Friday.

The billiards gold was like the warm sunshine that came after a rainy day, helping the entire RP delegation burry the memories of their poor one-gold finish in the 1998 Asiad. That gold, which also came in 9-ball doubles, went with five silver and a dozen bronze medals.

Already celebrating the victory in billiards, Filipino sports officials got another big reason to rejoice late in the afternoon as bowlers Liza del Rosario, Liza Clutario, Josephine Canare, Cecil Yap and Irene Benitez took the silver in the team event at the Homeplus Bowling Alley.

The female bowlers rolled a total of 6095 pinfalls, far behind the winning Korean group (6272) and barely ahead of bronze winner Chinese-Taipei (6086).

Counting the gold medal in men’s doubles, the silver of the men’s trios and the bronze by Clutario in women’s singles, bowling, under Steve Hontiveros, has emerged as the country’s savior in this South Korean container port city, the third largest in the world.

Billiards has also completed the cycle with a gold, a silver courtesy of Warren Kiamco in the 9-ball individual and a bronze courtesy of Efren "Bata" Reyes in the 8-ball individual.

The rest of the bronze medals in RP’s 2-3-6 medal haul came from the women’s golf team, men’s lightweight double sculls in rowing, and the individual and team trap events in shooting.

"Well, before we left Manila we said that this Asian Games is going to be a turning point in Philippine sports. I think that’s being realized now," said Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit.

"I hope this continues as we prepare for next year’s SEA Games in Vietnam. We also hope that more medals will come our way before the Games end," he added.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain was just as jubilant as he shared Dayrit’s sentiment.

"One gold and one silver today? Wow, remember, this is the Asian Games. Winning a gold, a silver or a bronze here is a great achievement," said Buhain, winner of five swimming gold medals during the 1991 Manila Southeast Asian Games.

"And we’re right on schedule. Ang ganda ng panalo natin sa billiards and it came against a Korean pair. Ang saya-saya namin doon," he added.

The Philippines took some casualties in the eighth day of full competition, too, but none was bigger than flyweight Violito Payla who absorbed a 31-19 loss to Pakistan’s Nouman Karim.

Payla held his ground all the way but just couldn’t impress the judges and the referee in his quarterfinal bout with Karim, a compatriot of AIBA president Anwar Chowdry.

Payla’s loss came before lightweight Anthony Igusquiza made it to the quarterfinals following a 20-14 victory over Syria’s Hamidi Yousef.

Aside from Igusquiza, those left to carry the fight for boxing are lightfly Harry Tanamor, lightwelter Romeo Brin and middleweight Maraon Goles.

Tanamor takes on India’s Ali Qamar while Brin squares off with another Pakistani, Ashgar Ali Shah, Tuesday while Goles debuts on Wednesday, each one of them going for an automatic bronze.

In athletics, the centerpiece event of all major international competitions, SEA Games double-gold medalist Eduardo Buenavista submitted a national record despite finishing 12th in a 13-man field in the 10,000 meters.