Pencak Silat athlete Francine Padios bas Philippines’ first gold in Hanoi SEAG
Francine Padios gave the Philippines its first gold in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the Bac Tu Liem Gymnasium in Vietnam Wednesday, May 11, after beating reigning champion Puspa Arum Sari of Indonesia in the pencak silat women's seni (artistic) tunggal singles event.
Padios had to overcome Vietnam’s Vuong Thi Binh in the semifinals to advance to the gold medal match where she tallied a total of 9,960 while her opponent only scored 9,945 in the finals.
Francine improved her performance from the 2019 edition where she settled for silver medal here in the Philippines more than two years ago.
“The Palace congratulates Mary Francine Padios for bringing pride and glory to the country by winning the first gold medal for the Philippines in Pencak Silat Women’s Seni (Artistic) Tunggal single event in Vietnam,” outgoing acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said.
“Congratulations. We are proud of you,” he added.
The Philippines has secured eight medals from kickboxing athletes with Renalyn Dacquel being assured of at least a silver medal after she pulled off a 3-0 victory over Thailand's Kanwara Boonpeng in their women’s full contact -48 kg class semifinal while earlier, George Baclagan seized bronze in the men's 90kg event in kurash, while Helen Aclopen Talongen won silver in the women's 48kg event.
Over at the Thuy Nguyen Hai Phong Aquatics Center, Cris Nievares and Christian Joseph Jasmin bagged the silver medal in the men’s lightweight double sculls in rowing.
The men’s handball team has also secured a silver medal, upping their performance from the previous edition of the games where they only placed third, while still having another game to play on Wednesday.
Team Philippines is hoping to defend its overall title after dominating the 2019 edition with 149 gold, 117 silver, and 121 bronze medals.
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