MANILA: Malaysia continued their poor run at the 30th SEA Games here as they won only two golds, in pencak silat and petanque, on the fifth day of competition yesterday.
The meagre collection of two gold, five silver and two bronze medals caused Malaysia to drop two rungs to fifth in the medal tally with a total of 23 gold, 16 silver and 24 bronze medals.
The five silvers came from women’s triples in petanque, men’s individual epee in fencing, mixed doubles in tenpin bowling, men’s 66kg in judo and men’s 90kg sambo, while the two bronze medals were in Putera B 40-45kg pencak silat and women’s 200m breaststroke in swimming.
With just six days to the closing ceremony, the Philippines have consolidated their position at the top with a haul of 63 gold, 45 silver and 34 bronze medals and look increasingly likely to be crowned overall champions for the second time on home ground since 2005.
Vietnam, the overall champions as hosts in 2003, remained in second spot with 31 gold, 35 silver and 41 bronze medals while Indonesia rose two spots to third with 27 golds, 36 silvers and 39 bronzes.
Silat exponent Zulfakar Zulfazly gave Malaysia their first gold for the day when he beat Indonesia’s Hanifan Yudani Kusumah 3-2 in the Putera D (60-65kg) final at the Subic Convention and Exhibition Center.
The second gold was contributed by Muhammad Hafizuddin Mat Daud, Syed Akmal Fikri Syed Ali and Saiful Bahri Musmin, who battled for almost three hours before defeating defending champions Thailand 13-11 in the petangue men’s triples final at the CDC Lot in front of the Royce Hotel and Casino, Clark.
The Malaysian contingent will be competing in several sports on day six today, including diving, marathon, cycling, pentathlon, muay thai and petanque. — Bernama
