MANILA, Dec 7 — The national contingent bounced back on the sixth day of competition at the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines yesterday with a haul of five gold medals.
The diving squad led the gold medal collection with two gold in the women’s 3m springboard, while tenpin bowling (men’s team), snooker and billiards (men’s doubles) and swimming (women’s 50m breaststroke) contributed one gold each.
Besides the five gold, the contingent added two more silver in the women’s springboard and judo men’s over 100kg, and another three bronze in the obstacle course (men’s individual 5km x20), men’s marathon and swimming (men’s 200 metres backstroke).
The five gold, however, did little to change Malaysia’s 5th position in the overall medal tally, with 28 gold, 20 silver and 29 bronze amassed so far.
With five days remaining before the curtain drops on the biennial sporting event, the Philippines has confirmed their place as champions for the second time with an unassailable lead of 71 gold, 55 silver and 50 bronze, while Indonesia climbed up one spot to second with 40 gold, 41 silver and 47 bronze medals.
In yesterday’s action, the diving squad contributed the first gold through 2018 Asian Games silver medallist, Wendy Ng Yan Yee, who excelled in the 3m individual springboard, scoring 298.90 points after five rounds at the New Clark City Aquatics Centre.
The men’s pair Ooi Tze Liang and Chew Yiwei then won the 3m springboard event, scoring 398.16 points after six dives.
The tenpin bowling squad through the combination of Muhammad Rafiq Ismail, Tun Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam, Ahmad Muaz Fishol and Timmy Tan then scored 4,980 pinfalls to land the gold in the men’s team event.
Snooker pair Moh Keen Hoo / Lim Kok Leong then landed Malaysia’s first snooker gold in the games with after defeating host nation players and heavy favourites Alvin Barbero / Jefrey Roda, 3-1 in the finals at the Manila Hotel Tent here yesterday.
National elite swimmer, Phee Jinq En then splashed her way to Malaysia’s last gold medal of the day, clocking 31.40 seconds in the women’s 50 metres breaststroke event.
The Malaysian contingent will continue their hunt for gold in the seventh day of competition tomorrow in several events, among them diving, tenpin bowling, cycling, rhythmic gymnastics, ice hockey, sailing and shooting. — Bernama
