Pinoy bets fall short in Asian Beach Games

One-eyed skipper Ridgely Balladares and crew Richly Magsanay valiantly conducted their maneuvers in the final two races of 16 open hobie yet missed a medal finish by a shade in the 2nd Asian Beach Games in Muscat, Oman. Balladares, whose right eye was completely shut by infection, was severely affected in the ninth race where he and Magsanay managed only a ninth-place finish among ten starters. In an all-out burst in the 10th race, the Filipinos captured runner-up honors, but their 41 points were not enough to overcome a Thai tandem, which stood nine points ahead when all the results of the 10 races were added up. Another Thai pair that scored 13 points won the gold, while a Hong Kong team took the silver with a 27. The other Philippine team of skipper Joel Mejarito and crew Rommel Chavez finished sixth and fourth in the last two races, ending up sixth overall with 45 points. RSX expert Reneric Moreno also made a final-day rally, but could not generate any progress as he remained sixth overall after finishing eighth, sixth and fifth in the last three races. China claimed the gold and silver of the RSX while Thailand settled for bronze. It was a bad start and a bad finish for John Harold Madrigal in the techno category where he closed out with ninth place finishes in the last two races of the event dominated by Bipeng Wei of China, Nevin Singsart of Thailand and Mu Bin Chen of China. In the radial open laser, Rubin Cruz Jr. came out determined for sixth and fifth place finishes in races nine and 10, but like his compatriots, the Pinoy bet failed to rise in the standings. Cruz, who started off brilliantly before he was disqualified in one race, causing him substantial penalties, placed 10th overall. Thailand, Malaysia and Pakistan finished 1-2-3 in the event. The Thais also ruled beach woodball, raking gold, silver and bronze medals in the men’s category where PHL’s Teodulfo Villaflor was 43rd and Harold Hanz Loriega 50th in a cast of 52. Women’s regu sepak takraw was also unkind to the Philippines, which lost to Indonesia, 12-21, 16-21, and to Thailand, 15-21, 7-21. The PHL team must win over China on Tuesday afternoon (Manila time) and against Vietnam on Wednesday if it hopes to land in the medal circle. PHL’s hopes are also pinned on wakeboarding, which started Tuesday afternoon, and triathlon that unfolds on Thursday. Thailand wrested the top spot in the medal race from host Oman with an 11-4-6 harvest while China moved to second spot with 6-3-3. Oman was relegated to third with 5-2-4. Six other nations have also won gold medals, including Indonesia (2). Malaysia (1) Syria (1), India (1) and Kazakhstan (1). - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV