Indonesia dethrones Gilas Pilipinas in SEA Games

HANOI – Tokyo Olympics bronze winner Eumir Marcial mauled his unheralded Timor Leste opponent to lead a final-day, four-gold medal haul that somehow lost luster after Gilas Pilipinas failed in its mission on Sunday in the 31st Southeast Asian Games here.

Showing superior skills, Marcial made quick work of Delio Anzageci Mouzinho, forcing a referee-stopped contest (RSC) victory in the first round of the middleweight finals, following through on big victories scored earlier by Ian Clark Bautista and Rogen Ladon at the Bac Ninh Stadium.

But the story of the day, the saddest in Team Philippines’ participation here, was the stunning 81-85 defeat suffered by Gilas Pilipinas to a gritty Indonesian squad backstopped by former NBA player Marques Bolden and coached by former Gilas mentor Raiko Toroman.

The defeat came after the Gilas Pilipinas women’s team absorbed a similarly surprising 93-96 setback at the hands of the upstart Malaysian squad at the Thanh Tri Gymnasium earlier, although the loss was somehow softened by the fact the distaff team still won the gold medal via the winner-over-the-other rule.

The Gilas women’s cause was helped along by Vietnam, which beat Malaysia 69-65 late Saturday night, the Malaysians’ second defeat in five games.

With a 4-1 card, the Gilas women bagged the gold. Indonesia can match that record with a win over Singapore later Sunday but Gilas will still prevail, having beaten the Indons 93-77 Monday last week.