Philippines’ Team A emerged as the overall champion in the 11th BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Darussalam Indonesia Malaysia Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area) Friendship Games held at the Ramon V. Mitra Sports Complex, pulling away on the third day of the competition.
The final tally, released on Wednesday, revealed that Team A amassed a total of 23 gold medals, 23 silvers, and 31 bronzes. Malaysia Team B (Sabah) secured second place with 10 golds, 14 silvers, and 12 bronzes, while Team Philippines E, representing host Puerto Princesa City, claimed third place with 10 golds, 6 silvers, and 5 bronzes.
Rounding out the top five were Indonesia with a 7-7-5 medal haul and PH Team B with 6-5-5.
All participating delegations managed to secure medals, including Malaysia Team A (Labuan) with 2-3-2, Brunei-Darussalam with 2-2-4, PH Team C with 1-3-1, and PH Team D with 1-2-4.
The Philippine teams dominated the swimming events, led by Quendy Fernandez of Team E (Puerto Princesa City) and Philip Adrian Sahagun of Team A. Together, they helped secure 25 of the 29 swimming golds.
Puerto Princesa’s pride, Fernandez, dazzled her hometown crowd by adding two more medals to her tally, earning gold in the 200-meter girls’ backstroke and silver in the 4×100 medley relay. She finished the games with an impressive haul of 5 golds and 2 silvers.
Team A’s Sahagun also had a standout performance, winning gold in the 200-meter boys’ backstroke and contributing to the team’s victory in the 4×100-meter medley relay. He concluded the competition with 5 gold medals.
“My goal is to really join the national team and represent our country in international competitions,” said Sahagun.
In karate, Jamie Danielle Nirza of PH Team A shone brightly by clinching gold in the advanced women’s individual kata with a score of 36.5 points. She narrowly defeated Malaysia A’s Anisa Aira Nur (36.2 points), who took silver. The bronze medals went to Malaysia B’s Ameera Liew and Brunei’s Nasir Abdul.
“I’m happy to achieve such a feat, and I worked hard for this one. I’m glad that I was able to perform the way I wanted, and I’m happy for my teammates; we’re able to perform [well],” said Nirza, a first-year nursing student at Jose Maria College.
“I have been practicing, and when I perform, I give my very best. I just feel honored and blessed to bring something that our country can be proud of,” she added.
Nirza, along with teammates Yesha Lee Ho and Al Rhina Kawano, also earned silver in the women’s team kata with a score of 34.6 points.
In the men’s individual kata, Arvin Santillana of PH Team A secured silver with 36 points, behind Indonesia’s Mulki Jailani Patokkong Asnawi. Malaysia B’s Alvince Zurizal and PH Team D’s Karl Lester Palatino shared the bronze.
In archery, PH Team E’s Nathaniel Carlos triumphed in the men’s individual recurve, defeating his Malaysian competitors with six points. PH Team B’s Yvonne Forcado claimed gold in the women’s recurve.
In athletics, Milchay Moreno led PH Team A to victory in the 4x400m women’s relay, besting Malaysia B and PH Team D.
PH Team A also excelled in badminton, with Klea Montanez winning the women’s singles gold. Malcolm Mag-Aso and Andre Alexis Macalalag secured the mixed doubles title, while PH Team B’s Regina Bayudang and Khrystn Valdez dominated the women’s doubles.
