52-70-104.
That was the gold-silver-bronze haul Team Philippines brought home after the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2022. The games, originally scheduled for 2021, had to be rescheduled due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country finished fourth, a three-level drop from being the overall winners in the Manila edition of the regional meet in 2019.
But as always, the Filipinos put on performances to remember. Some, though, failed to live up to expectations.
But that’s the beauty of sports. As Giannis Antetokounmpo recently said, there’s no such thing as failure. Losses are but steps towards your goal.
Before the SEA Games in Cambodia opens, relive some of the highlights of the last edition of the regional meet:
GOLDEN PERFORMANCES
Carlos Yulo
The Filipino wunderkind came to Hanoi to win. And win he did, not once, but five times.
The diminutive gymnast conquered the men’s individual all-around and scored 85.150, besting Vietnam’s Le Thanh Tung and Dinh Phuong Thanh.
He followed up the spectacular performance with gold medals in floor exercise, rings, high bar, and men’s vault, respectively.
Kim Mangrobang
When it comes to triathlon, Kim Mangrobang was one of the first athletes that come to mind.
She didn’t disappoint, as always. Mangrobang ruled the women’s individual triathlon for the third straight time with a time of 2:13:31.
A day later, the Filipina ace copped the gold in duathlon, beating Malaysia and Indonesia. She clocked 2:13:12 in the run-bike-run event.
In all, Mangrobang has five SEA Games golds and a silver.
Rubilen Amit
Rubilen Amit is probably one of the best, if not the best, Filipino pool players after Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante.
The world champion proved that again in the 31st edition of the games, winning the gold medal in the 9-ball and 10-ball events, respectively.
Overall, she has nine SEA Games gold medals under her belt.
Eric Cray
There’s no stopping Eric Cray in the 400-meter hurdles.
Cray continued to impose his dominance in athletics after securing his fifth gold mint in the event with a time of 50.41 ticks.
He edged host’s bet Quach Cong Lich and Singapore’s Jun Jie Calvin Quek.
Eumir Marcial
It was too easy.
Eumir Marcial wasted no time in disposing of Timor Leste’s Delio Anzaqeci, winning the gold medal with a first-round stoppage in the middleweight final match.
It was Marcial’s fourth SEA Games gold.
Agatha Wong
She is the wushu queen, period.
Agatha Wong proved that time and again after conquering the women's taijijian. She scored 9.71 points to beat host's bets Thi Huyan Tram and Thi Trang Tran.
It was a bounce back win after settling for silver in her favored event, taolu taijiquan.
Merwin Tan
After 11 years, the country bagged a gold medal in bowling thanks to Merwin Tan.
Tan ruled the men’s singles event after tallying 1292, besting Thailand’s Yannaphon Larpapharat and Indonesia's Ryan Leonard Lalisang.
Before his conquest, Frederick Ong was the last Filipino bowler to win the gold.
CROWN RETAINED
Hidilyn Diaz
It’s only natural that Hidilyn Diaz sustained a golden performance in weightlifting. After all, she is an Olympic gold medalist.
Diaz’s greatness was on full display as she topped the women’s 55-kilogram event for the second straight time.
EJ Obiena
The Philippine sports’ gem reminded the region who’s king.
EJ Obiena, then ranked fifth in the world, retained the gold medal in pole vault with ease and registered a 5.40-meter jump on his first attempt.
But he was not satisfied.
Now the world’s no. 3 pole vaulter, Obiena then recorded a 5.46m leap, shattering his 2019 record of 5.45m.
Gilas Pilipinas Women
Coach Pat Aquino’s wards have become the team to beat in the region.
Since Aquino took the reins, the women’s basketball team has gone nowhere but up.
They proved they are now the gold standard when it comes to women’s basketball in the region after winning back-to-back titles.
Although it lost to Malaysia, 96-93 in its final assignment, Gilas ran away with the gold medal by virtue of being the team with the best record.
Kurt Barbosa
Kurt Barbosa continued to rule Taekwondo’s under-54kg category.
The 2020 Olympian defended his title after beating Panachai Jaijula of Thailand, 16-7.
William Morrison
While he failed to match his previous record, William Morrison still emerged with the gold medal in shot put.
Morrison retained the gold after tallying 18.14 meters, .24 short of tying his old mark.
STUNNING LOSSES
Gilas Pilipinas
Perhaps the biggest shocker in this edition of the biennial meet was the fall of the country’s men’s basketball team.
Despite parading some of our best players like June Mar Fajardo, Matthew Wright, and Thirdy Ravena, the Gilas Pilipinas bowed to Indonesia, 85-81 in the gold-medal match.
The loss ended the country’s 33-year dominance in basketball.
Men’s volleyball team
Plagued with inactivity and absences due to the pandemic, the men’s volleyball team wasn’t able to replicate its success in the previous edition where it had a silver medal finish.
Even with Bryan Bagunas, Marck Espejo, and John Vic De Guzman leading the charge, the squad settled for fifth after pulling off an escape act against Myanmar, 26-24, 22-25, 25-22, 27-29, 16-14 in the classification match.
In the group stage, the Philippines lost to Thailand and Cambodia.
Nesthy Petecio
Much was expected from Nesthy Petecio. After all, she was coming from a silver medal finish in the Tokyo Olympics.
But in a shocking turn of events, Petecio lost to Vietnam’s Thi Linh Tran in boxing’s 57-60kg semifinals.
The country’s prized pugilist won a gold in the Manila SEA Games in 2019.