After a rush of 8 gold medals overnight, Filipino para-athletes struggled on Wednesday, mustering 1 gold courtesy of thrower Cendy Asusano in the women’s shot put F54 in the 11th ASEAN Para Games at the Manahan Stadium in Surakartam, Indonesia.
Disqualified in the discus throw on Tuesday due to a loose strap on the throwing chair, Asusano came back strong and won the gold with a new personal best of 5.65 meters on her fourth try.
She shattered her old mark of 5.50 meters in the 2017 Malaysian edition of the sports fest.
It was the Pasig-based athlete’s second mint out of 3 events after easily winning the javelin throw on the opening day of action.
“Nabawi ko po 'yong DQ (disqualification) ko kahapon ng Martes. Kinalimutan ko po para hindi ma-stress. Praise God at nanalo naman po,” said Asusano, who swept all of her 3 events in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur five years ago.
In 5x5 men’s wheelchair basketball at the GOR Sritex Arena, the Philippines rode a big first-half to whip Indonesia 61-30 to set up another showdown for the gold with Thailand on Friday.
Banking on their bench depth, the Filipino cagers outscored the hosts 34-14 in the first two quarters in rolling to their second win in three games in the single-round series.
Based on the records compiled by the PSC and the Philippine Paralympic Committee, the Pinoy campaigners now have a total of 14 gold, 13 silver, and 29 bronze medals for an unofficial tally of fourth overall in the medal standings.
Over at the Jatadiri Sports Complex in Semarang, swimmers Roland Sabido and Arnel Aba added silver and bronze medals, respectively, to the country’s collection in the stint backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Sabido was second in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S9 event in one minute, 15.820 seconds while Aba bagged the bronze medal in the men’s 100-meter butterfly S9 event in 1:23.40.
The Philippines' swimmers hope to recover from their anemic showing today with 2017 Malaysian ASEAN Para Games gold medalist Gary Bejino, veteran Ernie Gawilan, and Angel Otom expected to vie for gold on Thursday.
Arman Dino added a silver medal in the afternoon by placing second in the men’s 400-meter T46 race.
Contributing bronze medals in para athletics were King James Reyes, Andy Avellana and Marites Burce in the men’s 1,500-meter T46 race, men's High Jump T42/T63 event, and women’s shot put F54, respectively.
Table tennis likewise delivered a bronze through the Class 10 mixed doubles tandem of Pablo Catalan Jr. and Minnie Cadag, who took a 6-11, 8-11, 4-11 loss to Indonesia’s Komet Akbar and Aminah in the semifinals.
They added two more bronzes in the Men's Doubles Class 9 later in the afternoon, courtesy of Benedict Gaela and Andrew Kevin Arandia and Pablo Catalan Jr. and Linard Sultan.
Judo also gave the country two bronze medals courtesy of Deterson Omas in the Men’s J1 -60 kg class and Russel Cundangan in the Women's J1-J2 +57kg category.