Southeast Asian Video games – Creative Gymnastics – Olympic Marquee, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Could 8, 2023 Philippines’ Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo in motion in the course of the males’s qualification REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
They flew into Cambodia with an air of invincibility. And on Monday, towards outclassed foes within the thirty second Southeast Asian (SEA) Video games, Carlos Yulo and EJ Obiena confirmed simply how unbeatable they had been.
Yulo gained the lads’s all-around for the third straight version of the regional meet, the primary of solely 4 golds that he shall be allowed to win, based mostly on the brand new guidelines instituted by organizers of the Cambodia internet hosting.
And it hardly mattered that he needed to cram in preparation for the meet.
“I solely had two weeks to organize and full all of the issues that I would like to perform,’’ Yulo mentioned after greasing his path to the gold with peerless performances within the vault and parallel bars—which have turn out to be his favourite of late—and a dominating stint within the ground train, which he dominated within the 2019 world championships.
In a seamless stint interrupted solely by rain, Obiena left his foes biting mud earlier than the climate pressed pause on the motion.
When play resumed, Obiena went after his outdated report within the biennial meet and efficiently rewrote it—thrice.
The Olympian pole vaulter cleared 5.65 meters for the gold, adjusting the 5.46-m commonplace he set in final 12 months’s Hanoi Video games. Recuperating from a left foot damage he suffered final week, the 27-year-old Obiena first cleared 5.55 m and 5.60 m.
“It’s not my first time to compete within the rain. We don’t prefer it, but it surely occurs,’’ mentioned Obiena, whose efficiency got here as a prelude to a protracted outside season throughout which he’ll attempt to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Doubtful timing
Southeast Asian Video games – Athletics – Morodok Techo Nationwide Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Could 8, 2023 Philippines’ Ernest John Obiena reacts in the course of the males’s pole vault REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Obiena was initially sad with the timing of the stoppage of play, which got here after he cleared 5.40 m. However that solely gave the world No. 3 vaulter much more motivation.
“I made 5.40 on my second and technically, usually they need to have jumped the second try in the identical situations,” he mentioned. “[But] they stopped, that’s effective with me. It might be a tactic, however I didn’t prefer it. It labored for me, I wanted one thing to make me go somewhat bit extra.”
For Yulo, what proved essential was a choice to return to Manila from his coaching base in Japan earlier than flying to Phnom Penh.
“The climate is chilly in Japan, so once I returned house (in Manila) I steadily obtained acclimatized,’’ mentioned Yulo, who was unbothered by the nice and cozy climate within the Cambodian capital.
In entrance of an enormous crowd at Nationwide Olympic Stadium, Yulo scored 15.000 within the vault, the equipment that made him a world champion in 2021, and 14.950 within the parallel bars.
Yulo additionally got here up with a robust routine within the ground train to gather 14.350 factors from the judges.
He compiled 84.000 total, method forward of silver medalist Thanh Tung Le (80.450) and bronze finisher Phuong Thanh Dinh (78.150), each from Vietnam.
Yulo will once more take the mat on Tuesday within the finals of the person apparatuses.
SEA Video games guidelines prohibit athletes from successful greater than 4 gold medals, a restriction that doesn’t apply to the bets of the host nation.
In different SEA Video games occasions, Xiandi Chua gave the nation’s swimming group its first gold after spearheading a 1-2 end by Filipinos within the girls’s backstroke finals.
Chua completed in two minutes and 13.20 seconds at Morodok Aquatic Heart to beat teammate and defending champion Chloe Isleta (2:16.19) for the gold-silver feat of the PH group.
A bit of sauce
SEA Video games gold medalist Xiandi Chua on the podium.
Chua added somewhat sauce to her victory, resetting the SEA Video games commonplace within the occasion after breaking the two:13.64 swim of Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, which the Vietnamese achieved in the course of the 2017 version of the Video games in Malaysia.
Cambodia gained one more gold on the expense of the Philippines when naturalized triathlete Margot Garabedian, initially from France, ended Kim Mangrobang’s three-edition reign within the girls’s aspect of the occasion.
Garabedian completed in a single hour, 5 minutes and 34.2 seconds whereas Mangrobang checked in practically two minutes (1:07:24) later.
Fernando Casares eased the ache of Mangrobang’s failed title-retention effort with a gold medal in males’s aspect.
The Filipino-Spanish defending champion completed in 58 minutes and 32 seconds, making up for a bungled medal try in males’s duathlon on Sunday.
Indonesia’s Rashif Amila Yaqin wound up with the silver medal in 58:45.
Cebuano Andrew Kim Remolino, a back-to-back SEA Video games silver medalist within the occasion, positioned third in 59:53.
Crew Philippines plucked a gold medal in esports with a 3-1 victory over Vietnam within the League of Legends: Wild Rift occasion.
The blended group of Aaron Mark Bingay, Chammy Paul Nazarrea, Golden Hart Dajao, Justine Ritchie Tan and Reniel Angara gained three out of their 4 video games to clinch the title.
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