SEA Games Team PH Update: Rowing Gold sparks eight-gold surge as Alex Eala, RP Blu Girls stay on title track 

 Day 7 of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games unfolded like a turning point rather than a routine slate, with Team Philippines finally stitching together momentum across venues in Thailand. What began quietly on the water soon rippled through shooting ranges, athletics tracks, tennis courts, and softball diamonds, producing the country’s most productive gold-medal day of the Games so far.

The spark came from rowing, where Paris Olympian Joanie Delgaco and Kristine Paraon delivered the Philippines’ first-ever SEA Games gold in the women’s double sculls. 

Clocking 8:16.976, the Filipino duo finished nearly five seconds ahead of Thailand’s Sukkaew Rariwan and Chaempudsa Parisa, immediately setting a different tone for the day. 

Substitute Feiza Jane Lenton also shared in the historic gold, while Vietnam settled for bronze. More than just an early win, the result signaled a long-awaited breakthrough for Philippine rowing on the regional stage.

From there, the medals came in waves. By day’s end, the Philippines had collected eight golds — its highest single-day haul in the competition — tightening the race in the middle of the standings. 

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LABAN, PILIPINAS!

The Philippines closes Day 7 of the 2025 SEA Games with 142 medals as of 9 a.m. on December 16.

•⁠ Follow our SEA Games 2025 Medal Tally here: https://t.co/Wf98EMlJTk pic.twitter.com/YCwZNHpnNl

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) December 16, 2025

Team PH closed the day sixth overall with 25 gold, 38 silver, and 80 bronze medals, just one gold behind Malaysia, which sat fifth at 26-28-80 after the two countries traded places multiple times through Day 6.

A major chunk of the gold rush came from practical shooting, a sport making its SEA Games debut. World champion Rolly Tecson (men’s standard), Edcel Gino (men’s production optics), Erin Micor (women’s open), and Genesis Pible (women’s production optics) all stood atop the podium, instantly establishing the Philippines as a regional force in the discipline.

Elsewhere, Elreen Ando finally pushed Philippine weightlifting onto the gold board by ruling the women’s 63kg division, while Jones Inso completed a sweep of the taijiquan–taijijian event with a gold in wushu taolu. 

On the track, rising stars Naomi Cesar and Hussein Lorana announced themselves by sweeping the women’s and men’s 800m races at the Suphachalasai National Stadium, underlining the country’s growing depth in middle-distance athletics.

The day wasn’t defined by gold alone. Kayla Sanchez wrapped up her SEA Games campaign with a silver in the women’s 4x100m medley relay alongside Heather White, Miranda Cristina Renner, and Xiandi Chua. 

Robyn Brown added another silver in the women’s 400m hurdles, while Philippine shooters Evelyn Woods, Stefanie Lee, Aeron John Lanuza, and Gerard Loy contributed silvers and bronzes across multiple events. Lauren Hoffman, Bernadette Bejoy, Junel Gobotia, and the women’s 4x100m relay quartet also found the podium, padding the medal count with meaningful finishes.

On the tennis courts, Alex Eala continued to separate herself from the field. The Filipina ace powered past Thailand’s Thasaporn Naklo in the women’s singles semifinals, 6-1, 6-4, guaranteeing herself at least a silver medal — already her best SEA Games result. 

Eala showed composure after falling behind early in the second set, regrouping to seize control and close out the match. 

One win now stands between her and a breakthrough SEA Games gold, with Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew awaiting in the final.

Meanwhile, the RP Blu Girls provided another emphatic statement in softball. After a tense opener, the Filipinas’ bats finally erupted in an 11-0 demolition of Indonesia, with Nicole Hammoude driving in five runs to end the contest in just four innings. 

At 2-0, the Blu Girls positioned themselves firmly in the title hunt, setting up crucial matchups against Malaysia and host Thailand.

It wasn’t a single headline that defined the Philippines’ Day 7 — it was the collective shift. From rowing’s long-overdue breakthrough to shooting’s gold-laced debut, from Eala’s steady march toward a championship to the Blu Girls’ offensive explosion, Team Philippines didn’t just add medals. It found rhythm, confidence, and belief at a stage of the Games where those qualities matter most.

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