Judoka Takahashi, equestrian Syquia in shiny golden SEA Games debut
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Reporter
NEWCOMERS in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games when they entered this year’s edition of the biennial regional sporting meet in Malaysia, judoka Mariya Takahashi and male equestrian John Colin Syquia came out of it as gold medal winners.
Competed for the first time in the SEA Games, Ms. Takahashi and Mr. Syquia proved themselves to be breakout stars for the Philippines by claiming gold in their respective events and provided golden shining moments for the country, which unfortunately have turned out to be few and far in between relative to the rest of the field, in the Kuala Lumpur Games.
Sixteen-year-old Filipino-Japanese Takahashi claimed the gold in the women’s -70 kg. event of the 29th SEA Games.
Ms. Takahashi drew a bye in the preliminaries before clobbering Thi Dieu Tien Nguyen of Vietnam in the semifinals and then moved on to dethrone Surratana Thongsri of Thailand via ippon in the first 43 seconds of their match en route to awarding the Philippines a gold.
“I’m very happy with this win,” Ms. Takahashi’s said through an interpreter after her gold medal-winning performance.
Her impressive showing has the judo federation in the country excited and very proud and is looking at her as one of the athletes, along with fellow gold medalist Kiyomi Watanabe, in the sport to be groomed for bigger competitions ahead, including the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
“She is [one of] our brightest bets in the 2019 SEA Games all the way to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Philippine Judo Federation president Dave Carter.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) also expressed its commitment to back her training while the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) would recommend her for an athletic scholarship program, where she would be entitled to a $500 monthly allowance.
FIRST GOLD SINCE 2011
Mr. Syquia, meanwhile, had Philippine equestrian back in the gold medal tally since 2011 by winning the individual show jumping title.
Riding Adventure E, Mr. Syquia, who is based in Florida, was tied with five other riders in the first two rounds before blazing in the jump off to clock a commanding 37.63 seconds over Malaysians Sharmini Christina Ratnasingham (41.30 seconds) and Dato’ Seri Mahamad Fathil Qabi Ambak (41.66 seconds).
His victory was the lone bright spot for the Philippines on Monday with his gold.
“This (gold medal) is very special because this is the first time for me to compete in the SEA Games,” said Mr. Syquia, 46, a horse-dealer as well who participates in shows and derbies in Wellington, Florida.
