MANILA, Philippines - Filipino tankers finished with a big flat zero in the seventh AASF Asian Age Group Championship held Oct. 4-13 in Palembang, Indonesia, an event held by the host country as a prelude to the 26th Southeast Asian Games.
The Philippines wound up medalless along with Oman, Iran, Jordan, Pakistan and Brunei in the 20-nation competition.
The Filipino tankers were Ariane Velasquez (12th) and Kristian Cortado (14th) in the heats of the 100m breaststroke, Axel Ngui (ninth) and Fahad Alkhaldi (16th) in the boys 200m freestyle, Hannah Dato (eighth), and Jasmine Ong (11th) in the girls 200m freestyle, and Gabriel Castelo (13th) in the 50m butterfly.
The Filipino bets who advanced to the finals were Franz Marquez (seventh) and Castelo (eighth) in the 200m individual medley, and Dato, who finished seventh in the girls 200m IM
In the absence of powerhouse China, Japan dominated the event with a total haul of 62-gold, 21-silver and nine-bronze medals, followed by Kazakhstan (13-19-15) and Hong Kong (10-23-19).
Among SEAG participants, Indonesia was fourth with 9-13-20. Thailand had 6-9-7, Singapore 1-3-6 and Vietnam 1-1-6.