Led by the golden performances from Kim Custodio and Dean Roxas, the Philippine jiu-jitsu team netted a total of seven medals on Thursday in the SEA Games 2025.
BANGKOK — When it rains, it pours for the Philippine jiu-jitsu team as they ended up with an impressive seven-medal haul in the SEA Games 2025 at the Ronnaphakat Building Navaminda Kasatiryahiraj Air Force Academy here on Thursday.
Flaunting multiple world champions on the roster, the Philippines added two gold medals, one silver, and four bronze medals in ne-waza and jiu-jitsu duo classic, with three-time world champion Kim Custodio leading the pack.
Custodio bested Sugun Nutchaya in the final, 3-0.
Competing in her first SEA Games, the 38-year-old Custodio relished the moment when all her hard work bloomed into success.
“Sobrang happy ako na nagbunga lahat ng paghihirap namin ng coaches ko, ng mga teammates ko, at saka ng mga taong nagtitiwala sa akin at nagsu-support. Sobrang happy ako,” Custodio said moments after clinching the gold.
Meanwhile, Dean Roxas followed Custodio’s gold with a quick victory in his final, submitting Singapore’s Aacus Hou Yu Ee in the men’s 85kg ne-waza to take the Philippines’ fourth gold medal for the biennial meet.
After taking the top prize, Roxas admitted that he struggled with an injury heading into the SEA Games.
“I went through a lot this year. You know, I got injured in Japan like three weeks, almost three weeks ago. So I thought I wasn't going to compete,” said Roxas, who also won the gold for the same event in 2019.
“Grateful to be here. Grateful to just, you know, soak in the moment. Represent the country and get another gold for Philippines.”
Ramirez gets tough luck
While her teammate Custodio emerged victorious, recently-crowned world champion Annie Ramirez wasn’t as fortunate.
Ramirez, who has won gold thrice before in the SEA Games, was submitted via choke against Malaysia’s Wong Joelle Ai in the semifinals. She fell unconscious and was deemed unable to continue by safety regulations.
Ramirez was also slated for a repechage match against compatriot Kaila Napolis for the bronze medal.
But because of how things transpired, Napolis was automatically given the bronze medal, which added to the earlier bronze medals — also by way of repechage — from Vito Luzuriaga and Marc Lim on the men’s side.
Yman Baluyo, the other Filipino who reached the final in the men’s 69kg ne-waza, was submitted in the final match and settled for silver.
Over on women’s duo classic, Baby Jhen Buzon and Mariane Mariano also got the bronze to make it a total of eight medals for the jiu-jitsu team after two days of competition here in Bangkok.
There are two days left of competition for jiu-jitsu, with medals still to be contested in ne-waza and duo classic.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.