MANILA, May 15 (Philippines Daily Inquirer/ANN): William Morrison (pic) retained his men’s shot putt crown to lead the medal haul of the Philippine athletics team on Sunday in the 31st South-East Asian (SEA) Games at My Dinh Stadium in Vietnam.
Morrison, the winner of the 2019 SEA Games shot put, ruled the contest with gold medal-clinching superb throw of 18.14 metres.
The ace shot put athlete didn’t beat his previous record of 18.38m, but he still accomplished his goal to defend his crown.
His compatriot Albert Mantua, whom he believed will be his greatest rival this SEA Games, placed fourth with 16.96 and missed the podium as Thailand’s Jakkapat Noisri was the runner-up (17.32m) and Malaysia’s Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli got the bronze (17.20).
Janry Ubas earned a silver medal in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.73 meters, falling short to contest winner Trong Nguyen Tien of Vietnam, who leaped 7.80 m.
Meanwhile, Sonny Wagdos copped bronze in the men’s 5000m, finishing the race in 16:35.890
Wagdos was just a second slower to gold medalist Lai Nguyen Van of Vietnam, who clocked 16:34.100 and beat runner-up Felisberto de Deus of Timor Leste (16:35.750).
Alfrence Braza, who won bronze in the men’s 1500m Saturday night, missed the podium and settled for fourth with a time of 16:35.950.
Joida Gagnao, on the other hand, also won bronze in the 3000m steeplechase, where she clocked 10:41.690.
Hometown bet Oanh Nguyen Thi set the SEA Games record of 9:52.440, beating her fellow Vietnamese Huong Nguyen Thi (10:18.600). - Philippines Daily Inquirer/ANN
