The Philippine dragon boat team snatched two more gold medals on Sunday as it continues to paddle its way to the overall title in the 2016 Asian Dragon Boat championships held in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
The Filipinos capped the successful campaign with victories in the 20-seater men’s 200 meters and 10-seater men’s 200m races that hiked their collection to five gold medals.
“Our goal was to win three gold medals and we’re really surprised to get more,” said national team head coach Len Escollante.
They topped the men’s 200m in 46.808 seconds to subdue Japan (48.681) and Indonesia (48.903), which settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
The Pinoy paddlers clocked 46.93 seconds in the standard men’s 200m to beat Taiwan (49.93) in the finals before an ecstatic home crowd at the Baywalk area.
Earlier, the Philippines prevailed in the standard boat men’s 500m, small boat junior mixed 500m and small boat women’s 500m, which came as the biggest surprise for the team in the two-day continental races.
“We didn’t expect them to win because we knew that Thailand and Indonesia are stronger. It was the first time our women’s squad paddled as a team,” Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation (PCKF) president Jonne Go said.
The PCKF organized the Asian championships together with the city of Puerto Princesa headed by Mayor Lucilo Bayron,
The city will host the two-day 2016 Puerto Princesa International Club Crew Championships that will have begun also on Sunday.
The Philippines also collected three silver medals – the 10-seater junior mixed 200m, men’s 500m small boat and women’s 500m small boat.