Muay bets snare 3 golds

MANAMA – The magnificent muay team delivered three gold medals yesterday as the Philippines zoomed to fifth in the medal race at the 3rd Asian Youth Games at the Grandhall C, D, E of the Exhibition World Bahrain here.

Lyre Anie Ngina, Zeth Gabriel Bueno and the duo of Jan Brix Ramiscal and Tyron Jamborillo struck gold in Wai Kru, a form discipline of the sport that originated from Thailand.

Ngina, a 14-year-old Baguio native, was a cut above the rest in the girls’ 14-15 class where she amassed 9.0 while Bueno, who hails from Nagcarlan, Laguna, topped the boys’ 14-15 section with a 9.17.

Ramiscal and Jamborillo, for their part, dominated the mixed team Mai Muay with a 9.20 in capping the Filipinos’ romp.

At 7 p.m. last night, the Filipinos zoomed to No. 5 in the medal standings with a 6-5-4 (gold-silver-bronze) harvest. They had surpassed Team Philippines’ two-gold, three-silver haul in the last edition in Nanjing, China 12 years ago.

The Philippines trails powerhouse China (26-18-17), Southeast Asian rival Thailand (9-5-5), Uzbekistan (9-4-9) and Iran (7-6-16).

And more could be coming as the Filipino world champion weightlifters have drawn the battle lines in the sport where the nation has drawn its breakthrough Olympic gold courtesy of Hidilyn Diaz.