Fil-American Kayla Richardson (Photo courtesy of Team Philippines) HANOI - Fil-American Kayla Richardson stepped out of the shadows of her more illustrious teammate Kristina Knott as she crowned herself the fastest woman in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the My Dinh National Stadium here Wednesday. A slow starter, Richardson picked up the pace halfway through the 100-meter finals and held steady to the finish, clocking 11.6 seconds to master an 8-runner field that included 200-m queen, Singapore's Shanti Pereira, who placed runner-up with a time of 11.62. Thailand's Supanich Poolkerd placed third in 11.66 seconds. "I can't complain. I'm so grateful. It took me a lot to get here. I thank God for getting me here," said a teary-eyed Richardson, after sharing a sweet embrace with sister and fellow national athlete Kyla and father Jeff. The 26-year-old Richardson only placed second in the heats with a 12.02 time, but it was a ploy to reserve strength for the rac
31st Southeast Asian Games opening ceremonies in Hanoi, Vietnam (Photo courtesy of PSC) HANOI - Except for some minor hitches, national team chef de mission Ramon Fernandez on Wednesday gave the thumbs-up to the Vietnamese hosts for the organization of the 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games. "The Vietnamese SEA Games hosts have been warm, hospitable and run a tight ship. The accommodations of our athletes, coaches and other staff of the Philippine team are comfortable. We have been treated well. There have been no major complaints," Fernandez said. He said the one problem he has heard so far was the transport from the hotels of the participants to the training and competition venues, which was understandable since Vietnam, like the rest of the region, was still coping with the Covid-19 pandemic. "The organizers have been apologetic about this issue and have addressed our concerns as soon as they can whenever the transport problems crop up," Fernandez, also a
HANOI Eric Cray’s 33 and still winning as he annexed a seventh career gold medal by ruling the men’s 400 meters hurdles in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the My Dinh National Stadium on Tuesday. Cray, dismissed as a has-been for failing to qualify for last year’s Tokyo Olympics because…
HANOI - Ageless Eric Cray extended his reign as the region's 400m hurdles' king with another blazing show at the track to clinch his seventh career gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games at the My Dinh National Stadium here on Tuesday. The 33-year-old Cray, given up for dead by critics for failing to join the Tokyo Olympics team due to injury, was back with a vengeance as he submitted a time of 50.41 seconds to clinch his fifth straight 400m hurdles' SEAG gold in a reign that began during the 2013 biennial meet in Myanmar. "Man, it's a blessing (winning his seventh SEAG gold), I thank God for this, I feel that I still got one more left in me," said Cray, who had to endure hamstring issues in these games. Cray's time fell short of the 50.21 he did in the 2019 Philippine SEA Games, but it was enough to foil the challenge of hometown favorite Cong Lich Quach, who finished with 50.82. Singapore's Jun Jie Calvin Quek bagged the bronze with 51.19. The Fil-A