Proud to be fourth

Host Vietnam emerged the region’s new sports super power with 158 golds, followed by Thailand with 90 and Indonesia with 55.

Ting, at 15 the youngest on the wushu team, emerged as the fifth double gold medalist in the RP contingent after having won the cudgel event earlier.

The national team of grandmasters Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio, Bong Villamayor, international master Mark Paragua and national master Ronald Dableo delivered the third gold for chess at the expense of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh.

The win also made Paragua the only three-gold medal winner in the 448-strong Philippine contingent following wins in rapid chess (individual and team).

The basketball team claimed its fourth and last victim, Malaysia, 90-61, and retained its basketball title with little opposition this side of Asia.

"Despite the difficulties that our athletes went through in their preparations, they competed with dignity and honor," said Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit. "This only proves to everybody that Filipinos deserve no less than respect and admiration."

"From the start, the Filipinos gave their best, and they showed they can improve," he added.

At the West Lake in Hanoi, the RP men’s team won the 500-m traditional boat race for the first time in the SEA Games. The team had a clocking of two minutes, 17.02 seconds, beating silver medalist Myanmar by only one-tenth of a second.

Of 28 sports the Philippines participated in, only fencing was able to regain overall supremacy with four gold medals against three of Vietnam.

The wushu team was second best with six golds behind Vietnam which corrnered 12. Willy Wang, also a gold medalist in the World Championships in Macau this year, was the second double gold medalist in wushu, winning the swordplay and spear play events.

The other double gold medalists for the Philippines were Rexel Ryan Fabriga in 10m springboard diving (single and syncrhonized), Marcus Valda in wrestling (Greco Roman under 96 kg and freestyle under 96kg), Lee Van Corteza in billiards (8-ball pool singles and 9-ball pool doubles) and Lenita Garcia in fencing (individual and team foil).

The wushu team emerged as the second winningest sport with six after athletics (eight). Taekwondo contributed five, fencing and wrestling four each, judo and chess three each, swimming, diving, billiards, and gymnastics two apiece and archery, boxing, cycling, basketball, shooting, karate, and traditional boat race one each.

Dayrit noted that the Vietnamese success story "is a lesson for us, because their success was built on careful planning and support given to them during their two-year preparations for the SEA Games in Hanoi".

He said that if the government could extend the same support to Filipino athletes, the Philippines could also win the overall title when it hosts the Games in 2005.

Dayrit said Vietnam spent over $50 million for its athletes and built modern sports facilities in a two-year span.

He said that if the government can spend P600 million a year or P1.2 billion for two years until 2005, it will have a big chance to win the title.

"A great task is ahead of us, to organize a successful SEA Games in 2005. Everyone’s cooperation and support is necessary. The 2005 SEA Games will prove that Filipinos can unite," he said.