VIENTIANE – Team UAAP-Philippines added one silver and three bronzes in its medal boot Tuesday as the 16th ASEAN University Games goes into the homestretch here.
University of the Philippines’ ace tanker Claire Adorna and the Ateneo trio of Celina Gonzalez, Jasmine Ong and Kim Uy combined forces in finishing second place in the women’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay with a time of 4:06.39.
Malaysia, bannered by Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Siow Yi Ting and Cai Lin, won the gold with a clocking of 4:00.49.
The lean Team UAAP-Philippines delegation now collected two golds, all courtesy from University of Santo Tomas taekwondo jins Christian Al dela Cruz and Ernest John Mendoza, as well as nine silvers and 13 bronze medals in seventh place.
Adorna earlier snatched her second individual bronze in the biennial meet after placing third in the women’s 100-meter backstroke event with a time of 1:07.31 behind Malaysian swimmers Chan Kah Yan, who clocked in 1:06.22 for the gold, and Chui Lai Kwan, who had a 1:06.88 time for the silver medal.
Reigning UAAP Athlete of the Year Johansen Aguilar of La Salle took the bronze medal in the men’s 100-meter backstroke bronze with a time of 59.83.
In the final day of competitions, Aguilar hopes to avert a gold medal shutout in swimming by defending his pet event, the men’s 200-meter freestyle.
Athletics contributed a medal on the last day, as Far Eastern University’s Rafael Poliquit, on his international debut, secured a bronze in the men’s 10-kilometer with a time of 32:24.93.
The UAAP tracksters finished their stint with three silvers and six bronze medals.
Malaysia (50-41-50) and Vietnam (46-26-24) are in a tight race for the overall championship. Thailand, which ruled the event in Chang Mai two years ago, is at third place with 29-40-35.