PHL finishes 3rd overall in Southeast Asian Rowing Championships

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines collared two gold medals and one silver to finish third overall in the Southeast Asian Rowing Championships over the weekend in Selangor, Malaysia.

Reigning SEAG champion Nestor Cordova stamped his class in the men’s single sculls, checking in at 7:27.24 to easily beat Indonesia’s Memo (7:33.11) and Thailand’s Chaichana Thakum (7:37.49).

SEA Games bronze medalists Edgar Ilas and Benjie Tolentino duplicated Cordova’s feat in the lightweight men’s double sculls, submitted a winning time of 6:48.88. Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Theuy and Nguyen Van Linh (6:50.80) and Indonesia’s Zeal Anvel Habid and Rendi Syuhkeda (7:00.49) settled for runner-up honors.

Roque Abala, Jr. and Alvin Amposta fell short of a third mint as they settled for silver in the lightweight men’s pair with 7:12.66, four seconds behind the winners, Indonesia’s Eies and Thomas Hallatu (7:08.96). Vietnam’s Dong Anh and Nguyen Kinh Huy were third with 7:12.82.

Ilas, Tolentino, Abala and Amposta joined forces in the lightweight men’s coxless fours but failed to land in the podium, clocking 6:35.95 for fourth behind Indonesia (6:27.12), Vietnam (6:30.82) and Thailand (6:34.71).

“This is a good indication for our SEA Games campaign,” coach Ed Maerina said in Filipino. “We’ll have more time for training, including a one-month stint in China, and hopefully we can improve further before the SEA Games.”

Vietnam took the overall championship with a 5-4-1 gold-silver-bronze collection, followed by Indonesia (3-4-3) and then the Philippines.