CEBU, Philippines — Two Cebuana athletes lived up to the hype as skater Margielyn Didal and judoka Kiyome Watanabe both delivered, while Cebuano Daniel Ledermann claimed the first ever gold in the men's skateboarding in the 30th Southeast Asian Games yesterday.
The 2018 Asian Games gold medalist Didal bested fellow Pinay Christiana Means in the finals of the S.K.A.T.E event at the Sigtuna Hall of the Tagaytay International Convention Center.
Didal and Means both started strong until the 20-year-old pulled off impressive tricks to the delight of her family who came all the way from Cebu to watch her perform in her first ever SEA Games stint.
Ledermann, whose mother is a Cebuana, duplicated Didal's golden victory after beating Indonesian Basral Hutomo to bag the gold. Lederman advanced to the finals after topping Vietnam's Tien Son Nguyen in the semis.
Both Ledermann and Didal are also eyeing for a back-to-back gold via street skates today.
Meanwhile, Watanabe remained unstoppable as she snatched her fourth straight SEAG gold. The 23-year-old Watanabe pummeled Nik Norbaizura Nik Azman of Malaysia in the 63 kgs final to seal the gold.
With the win, Watanabe, who is ranked No.23 in the world, boosted her bid to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. Also, Cebuano shooter Ditto Nestor Dinopol handed a bronze medal in the mixed benchrest air rifle event, while Jasmine Alkhadi, whose mom is also from Cebu, won bronze in the 100-meter freestyle with 55.76 seconds as Rheyjey Ortouste led Team Philippines to a bronze medal finish in doubles takraw.
Today, all eyes on Olympian Mary Joy Tabal as she tries to defend her women's marathon crown, while wakeboarder Raphael Trinidad and obstacle course racer Sherwin Managuil will begin their respective campaigns. FPL (FREEMAN)