PH raises gold medal haul to 28 at Asean Para Games

PHNOM PENH: The Philippines claimed its 28th gold medal from javelin thrower Andrei Kuizon in the 12th Asean Para Games at the Morodok Techo National Stadium here on Thursday, June 8, to match its gold medal haul from last year in Surakarta, Indonesia.

Kuizon, a 22-year-old Pampanga native who was plucked out of the wheelchair basketball team, took the mint after organizers decided to separate the winners of his F54 class from the F34.

Andrei Kuizon PSC PHOTO

The reigning shot put champion was initially awarded the silver on Wednesday with a 19.03-meter heave with Vietnamese Vivan Tung seizing the gold with a 21.33-meter throw.

Fate, however, intervened and handed the protégée of former national team member Nixon Mas, his second gold in the meet.

“The organizers decided to give the gold to Andrei. We already have the papers proving that he had won the gold,” national track and field assistant coach Bernard Bren said in Filipino.

Kuizon's triumph capped a spectacular performance by the 23-strong athletics squad as it finished with a 10-gold, 10-silver and 11-bronze harvest that surpassed its 6-4-14 effort a year ago.

It also put the whole Philippine Para team in a position to eclipse its 28-30-46 performance in Surakarta as it currently has a 28-31-39 record at press time.

Filipino para athletes are still competing in chess, badminton and table tennis at press time.

But it is more likely that it would come from the Filipino woodpushers, who have accounted for seven golds from rapid and standard events — four from Darry Bernardo in the men's B2B3 class and three from Cheyzer Mendoza in the women's PI section.

In swimming at the Morodok Aquatics Center, Gary Bejino and Marco Tinamisan settled for a pair of silver medal finishes in the 100m freestyle S6 and S4, respectively.

Bejino, who captured two gold medals in record-breaking feats entering the final day of pool competition, clocked a minute and 15.09 seconds in ending up behind eventual gold medalist Auyng Myint Myat of Myanmar, who timed in 1:14.90.

For Tinamisan, it was a bittersweet effort as he checked in at 1:47.45 and finished behind Vietnam's Danh Hoa's 1:36.23 for the silver.