MANILA — Team Philippines delivered an emphatic statement in a sport making its Southeast Asian Games debut, as Filipino practical shooters dominated the shooting range with four gold medals to headline another medal-rich day for the national delegation in Chonburi, Thailand.
Rolly Nathaniel Tecson, Edcel John Gino, Genesis Pible, and Erin Mattea Micor each struck gold at the THPSA Shooting Range, anchoring a seven-medal haul for the Philippines in practical shooting and underscoring the country’s growing strength in precision sports on the regional stage.
Tecson and Micor lived up to their world-class credentials as medalists in the 2025 International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) Handgun World Shoots, ruling the men’s standard individual and women’s open individual events, respectively. Gino and Pible completed the golden sweep by topping the men’s and women’s production optic individual categories.
“From the very first day up until sa last, nakaya natin maging consistent and na-minimize natin ‘yung mga errors kaya sobrang happy,” said Tecson. “Nakaka-proud kasi ngayon, siguro ma-recognize na kami ng government.”
The Philippines medaled in seven of eight practical shooting events, with Evelyn Woods settling for silver in the women’s production individual, while Gerard Loy (men’s open individual), Stefanie Kathrene Lee (women’s standard individual), and Aeron John Lanuza (men’s production individual) chipped in bronzes.
Beyond the firing line, the Philippine campaign continued to gain momentum across multiple disciplines. Weightlifter Elreen Ann Ando delivered a dominant performance in the women’s 63-kilogram class, winning gold with a total lift of 229 kilograms to finish well ahead of Vietnam’s Thi Thuy Tien Nguyen and Thailand’s Thanaporn Saetia.
Wushu also produced golden moments as Jones Llabres Inso topped the men’s taijiquan-taijijian event with a combined score of 19.563, following Agatha Wong’s earlier gold. Xander Alipio added a bronze in the men’s sanshou -65 kg class.
In athletics, Naomi Marjorie Cesar captured gold in the women’s 800 meters, with Bernalyn Bejoy taking bronze. Robyn Brown and Lauren Hoffman delivered a double-podium finish in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, earning silver and bronze, respectively.
The Philippine Sporting Clays team of Carlo Lorenzo Baltonado, Richard Gomez, Joaquin Miguel Ancheta, and Eduardo Angelo Rivilla III secured silver, while Mark Jesus San Jose opened the bowling campaign with a bronze in the men’s singles.
More medals flowed in athletics, swimming, weightlifting, and extreme sports, including a silver from Albert Ian Delos Santos in the men’s 71-kg weightlifting class, where he also broke his own junior world record in the clean and jerk with a 186-kg lift.
The Philippine mixed judo team capped its run with gold after defeating Thailand in the final, while medals also came from tennis, jiu-jitsu, table tennis, and relays as the Filipinos continued to stack podium finishes across the biennial meet./PN
