Baylon pins down record 7th gold

Filipino judoka John Baylon kept on beating Father Time and his SEA Games rivals.

The durable Baylon added another chapter to his saga in regional meet by bagging a record seventh gold in the sport yesterday at the jampacked Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.

Baylon pinned Myanmar’s Yan Naing Soe down on the mat using a hard arm lock for an outright ippon or full point with just 1:28 in the five-minute match to remains the undisputed judo champion in the —81 kgs. (half middleweight) division.

"I’m very happy. I’ve proven that at 41 years old, I can still be a champion. Time hasn’t worn me down and I’m up for the next SEA Games (in 2007 in Bangkok)," said Baylon.

It was the sixth time Baylon, an Airman 2nd Class of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), kept the crown he won way back in the 1991 SEA Games in Manila.

The 41-year-old Baylon needed just 64 seconds to dispose off Vietnam’s Hoang Hai Ho with a cunning arm lock technique for an outright ippon or full point in his first match.

Baylon, who hails from Binalbagan, Negros Oriental earned a trip to the finalsby defeating Indonesia’s Jimmy Anggoro using a choking (shimewaza) strategy at 3:13 mark of the five-minute extension.

Elmarie Malasan produced the host country’s only other medal of the day - a bronze in the -52 kgs. after she beat Myanmar’s Thiri Min Aung in the repechange.

Malasan’s gold medal hopes vanished into thin air after she lost her opening match to Thailand’s Boossa Streetanaratan.

Sidney Schwarzkopf and Cebuana Rezil Rosalejos crumbled before a strong field of foreign opposition.

Schwarzkopf missed the chance of baging bronze after bowing down to Thailand’s Wuttikrai Srisoprap in the -90 kgs. repechage. Before that, Schwarzkopf lost to Indonesia’s Dwi Sihmanto.

On the other hand, Rosalejos, who comes from Subangdaku, Mandaue City, was booted out of the medal race by Thailand’s Kanda Jindasawat.

After two days, the Pinoys have hauled two golds, one silver and two bronzes. The Philippines finished fourth overall in Vietnam with three golds, three silvers, and five bronzes.