Philippines on track to finish third overall in Vietnam SEA Games

With the 31st Southeast Asian Games reaching the halfway mark, chef de mission Ramon Fernandez is confident the Philippines can achieve its minimum goal of finishing at third spot in the overall medal standings.

“We are halfway through the Games, and we are in the top three of the medal standings, thank God. We are well within our target of finishing at least third overall. We just have to maintain our performance until the end,” Fernandez said on Tuesday in a statement.

The Philippines had garnered a total of 30 golds, 34 silvers, and 50 bronzes as of Monday night, just behind Thailand (34-35-50) in second place and the leaders and host Vietnam (83-50-55).

The Filipino athletes' performance so far, according to Fernandez, is nothing short of impressive as they continue to fight despite a short period of preparation brought about by the pandemic.

Dancesports and gymnastics accounted for more than half of the outputs with four and three mints, respectively, with the pair of Jean Mischa Aranar and Ana Nualla, completing a golden treble in tango, Viennese waltz, and all final dance standards at the Long Bien Gymnasium.

Carlos Yulo, on the other hand, emerged as the country’s top individual athlete in adding the men’s vault and high bar golds to his growing collection plus a silver in parallel bars at the Quan Ngua Sports Palace.

"We still have several sports where our athletes can win medals, and hopefully they can deliver,” said Fernandez.

Still in the medal hunt are the representatives in athletics, archery, boxing, basketball, bowling, billiards, weightlifting, karatedo, taekwondo, wrestling, canoe-kayak, shooting, sepak takraw, muay thai, and lawn tennis.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News