SURAKARTA. – Jerrold Mangliwan knew he would have a rival in his bid to recapture the wheelchair men’s 100-meter race T52 crown in the 11th Asean Para Games at the Manahan stadium here on Monday.
What Mangliwan did not realize was that the challenge would come from compatriot and newcomer Rodrigo Podiotan Jr., who pressed the former from the get-go, forcing Mangliwan to unleash a burst of speed in the last 10 meters to win the race in 19.18 seconds.
The Tokyo Paralympic veteran’s victory was the fifth gold won by the country’s PSC-supported para-athletes for the day, counting three mints from swimming and another from track and field, courtesy of comely javelin thrower Cendy Asusano, who had a winning heave of 13.72 meters on her first try.
Earlier Monday, swimming delivered the country’s first pair of gold medals as Ernie Gawilan and Roland Sabido splashed their way to victory in their respective events.
A triple gold medalist in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games, Gawilan kicked off the Philippine campaign by ruling the men’s 400-meter freestyle S7 in four minutes and 54.87 seconds.
Sabido and Arnel Aba led a 1-2 Pinoy finish in the men’s 400-meter freestyle S9, clocking 5:09.40 and 5:14.13, respectively, much to the delight of the smally Pinoy crowd led by Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo.
Later in the day, Angel Otom added swimming’s third gold in a memorable Para Games debut, ruling the women’s 50-meter backstroke in a time of 41.68 seconds.
“Naging maganda po ang swim ko sa unang event. Sana magtuloy-tuloy po ito,” said Gawilan, 31, who won a pair of gold and silver medals in the regional meet for para-athletes in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur five years ago.
“Masaya po ako kasi hindi ko akalain na makukuha ko ‘yung ginto sa unang bato pa lang,” said Asusano, who hopes to duplicate a golden treble she achieved in the 2017 Games with the discus and shot put still scheduled for the succeeding days.
“Medyo nakakaalis ng nerbiyos dahil nanalo na. Hopefully madagdagan pa po,” said Gawilan, who missed competing in the 2017 Malaysian edition since his class was not included in the meet after securing two golds and one silver in the 2015 Singapore Para Games.
Two-time Asian Para Games silver medalist Achelle Guion was forced to play second fiddle anew in the women’s 45-kilogram division of powerlifting with a hoist of 70 kilos behind hometown bet Ni Nenga Widiasih, who took the gold with a lift of 97 kilos.
Also contributing a bronze medal each for athletics were Joel Balatucan, Daniel Enderes Jr., Armand Dino, and Jesebel Tordecilla in the men’s shot put F55, men’s 5,00-meter T20 race, men’s 100-meter T47 race, and women’s discus throw F55, respectively.
Swimming also contributed another bronze in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay while veteran powerlifter Marydol Pama-tian also had a bronze in the women’s 41kg. class with a lift of 70 kilos.
Table tennis also made a modest medal contribution with two bronze medals in the men’s team Class 4 through Billy Cartera, Racleo Martinez and Darwin Salvacion and men’s class 8 doubles, courtesy of Jobert Lumanta and Jayson Ocampo, on Sunday.
