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SEA Games: Pinay wrestlers deliver 6 medals, including 1 gold

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Cristina Vergara delivered another gold for Team Philippines in wrestling. Rhea Soco-Neis, ABS-CBN News." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/05/15/20230515-wrestling.jpg"/><figcaption>Mother Christina Vergara (65 kg) and daughter Cathlyn Gee (59 kg) pose for a photo with POC President Abraham Tolentino after winning the gold and the bronze in wrestling freestyle wrestling. POC/PSC Media.​</figcaption></figure></div>(UPDATED) Filipina wrestlers won six medals in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games on Monday afternoon, including one gold courtesy of veteran Cristina Vergara.Vergara, a 44-year-old retired Philippine Navy enlisted personnel, won the gold in the women&#x27;s freestyle 65 kg category, outclassing Cambodia&#x27;s Sambat Vannak via a 12-2 technical superiority.It was the Philippines&#x27; second gold medal of the day after Vanessa Sarno&#x27;s dominant performance in weightlifting.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/15/23/dominant-sarno-repeats-as-sea-games-gold-medalist">Sarno repeats as SEAG gold medalist with dominant performance</a></li></ul>&quot;I never thought I can still do it,&quot; said Vergara, who came out of retirement a few years ago after hanging her jersey after the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand. &quot;I was amazed that I can still do my techniques very well.&quot;Vergara, a gold winner in the 2003 Vietnam and 2005 Manila SEA Games, made it to the finals after beating Sopha Thammahong of Laos also by superiority in the semifinals.Making the achievement all the more special is that her daughter, Cathlyn Vergara, also reached the podium. Cathlyn couldn&#x27;t duplicate her mother&#x27;s gold but will still go home with a bronze, behind gold winner Ann Tuyet Tran of Vietnam and silver medalist Salinee Srisombat of Thailand.&quot;I keep pushing her to train smart and harder because she has the opportunity to excel. She can still go to the Olympics because she&#x27;s still young,&quot; Vergara said of her 18-year-old daughter, a first-year BS Nutrition and Dietetics student at the University of Santo Tomas.Jiah Aurora Pingot secured a silver in the women&#x27;s 50kg class with two wins and a loss, finishing behind Vietnam&#x27;s Thi Xuan Nguyen. Jeanmae Lobo also picked up a silver in the women&#x27;s 72kg, beating Laos&#x27; Phonexai Paosavat after losing to Cambodia&#x27;s Chea Kanha.Also winning bronze medals were: Maribel Angana (women&#x27;s 53kg), and Grace Loberanes (women&#x27;s 55kg).Vergara&#x27;s gold is the second for Filipino wrestlers in Cambodia, after Jason Balabal ruled the men&#x27;s Greco Roman 82kg division on Sunday. Three wrestlers -- Michael Cater in 55kg, Noel Norada in 63kg, and Jason Baucas in 72kg -- also grabbed silvers, while Chlovelle Adolfo got bronze in the 67kg division.&quot;It&#x27;s a great improvement on our part after coming out with no gold medals in the last Vietnam Games,&quot; Alvin Aguilar, the president of Wrestling Association of the Philippines, said. &quot;I am really happy that they delivered.&quot;Pinoy wrestlers won seven silvers and five bronzes in last year&#x27;s Hanoi games. <div>For more stories on the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, click <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/seagames2023">here</a>.</div>

Filipina wrestlers won six medals in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games on Monday afternoon, including one gold courtesy of veteran Cristina Vergara.