By REYNALD MAGALLON
BANGKOK — The Philippine team swept the men’s baseball gold medal with a 5-3 win over host Thailand to retain its crown in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games at the Queen Sirikit Baseball Stadium on Friday, Dec. 12.
Unlike in their previous meeting which went down the wire, the Nationals were quick to assert their might, taking a 4-0 lead through the first five innings behind pitcher Romeo Jasmin who had seven strikeouts with one hit.
The Thais tried to rally back in the following innings but the Filipinos did just enough to keep them at bay.
The win capped a dominant run from the Filipinos who routed opponents one after another before getting challenged by the host team with a thrilling 8-7 win in their lone preliminary match.
Knowing what to expect though, the PH batters adjusted well and cruised to the big win that capped their impressive 7-0 record and gave Team Philippines its sixth gold medal in the Games at presstime (5 p.m.)
Over at the Air Force Academy, the Philippine jiu jitsu team ended their campaign strong by adding two more bronze medals to their haul.
Andrea Lois Lao claimed the medal in the women’s 63-kilogram class just as Santino Luis Luzuriaga bagged the other in men’s 62kg division. The jiu jitsu national team collected two golds, 1 silver and five bronzes
Meanwhile, Mark Ashley Fajardo added another assured bronze medal for Team PH team after Indonesian opponent Riwu Jekri retired due to an elbow injury. He will take on Sinsiri Bunjong of the host team, in hopes of avenging the earlier lost of Hergie Bacyadan and Junmilardo Ogayre to their respective Thai foes.
At the Suphachalasai National Stadium, Filipino bets Hokkett Delos Santos and Janry Ubas have taken the lead in the tight race in the men’s decathlon with only two events remaining.
It has been a close contest so far though both Delos Santos and Ubas are leading the way with the former topping with 5,697 points followed by the latter with 5,685 pts after seven events.
Thailand bet Suttisak Singkhon is coming in third with 5,669 while Indonesian Richsan Idan Fauzan is at fourth with 5,539 points.
The last two events of the decathlon, the javelin throw and the 1500-meter run are being held at presstime.
