The Philippines' rowers made waves as they won two gold medals in the 9th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships that ended Sunday in Prague, Czech Republic.
The Filipino rowers retained their title in the Premier Open 200-meter event and for good measure, ruled the Premier Mixed 200m competition to cap a successful campaign.
“Our paddlers did their best and succeeded in making the Philippines bigger in the world of dragon boat," Nestor Ilagan, technical director of the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation, said in a text message from Prague.
Engaged in a tight race with perennial rival China early on, the RP men’s team made a big push at the homestretch en route to winning their second straight Premier Open 200m crown in the biennial world meet.
The nationals negotiated the distance in 40.022 seconds, improving the 42.16-second clocking they submitted in winning the same event in the 2007 World Championships in Sydney, Australia.
China, the same squad that settled for the silver medal two years ago, was a fraction of a second slower than the Philippines with its 40.125 seconds. Rowers from the host country took the bronze with their 42.307 seconds.
On their way to the crown, the Filipinos topped heat 1 with a time 43.346 seconds to advance outright into the semifinal phase then submitted the fastest clocking in the semis (40.486 seconds) to lead the six qualifiers to the finals.
Complementing that successful title-retention campaign was another golden performance in the Mixed Open 200m division.
The country’s top male and female rowers joined forces to sweep past their rivals from Asia, the US and Europe with a winning time of 43.507 seconds. The Filipinos were more than two seconds faster than their closest rival, China, which clocked 45.951 seconds. Settling for a distant third was Germany with 48.635 seconds.
Not as successful, though, were the Philippines’ bets in the Premier 2,000m and 1,000m events, settling for ninth and fifth places, respectively.
Still, with the two gold medals they won in this year's world championships, the Filipino Dragon Boat rowers improved on their previous harvest of one gold, one silver and two bronze medals. - GMANews.TV
FIRST GOLD
The Philippine Dragon Boat team struck gold in the 10th International Dragon Boat Racing Championship in Tampa, Florida, when it topped the 1000-meter small boat event of the biennial competition.
The Pinoy Dragon Warriors won their first medal on the second day of the tournament in record-breaking fashion posting a time of four minutes and 57.13 seconds.
The Dragon Boat paddlers first won the men's 200-meter gold with a record time of 42.16 seconds in 2007 in Sydney, Australia. They successfully defended the world title
The team successfully defended its world title in the 2009 edition in Prague, Czech Republic with another record-breaking peformance (40.02 seconds).
Two thousand paddlers from 17 countries are competing at this year's event, happening from Wednesday till Monday. The Philippines will be up against countries like Singapore, Australia, Germany, Hungary, Brazil and defending champions China.
Events to be contested are 200-, 500-, 1,000- and 2,000-meter races.
On Friday night (Philippine time), the Filipinos will compete in the Premier Mixed 200m Small Boat event against Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. On Saturday morning, the team will compete against Japan, Australia, Italy, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago at the Premier Open 200m Small Boat event. Come Saturday night, it will compete at the Premiere Mixed 500m event against Trinidad and Tobago and Puerto Rico. - JVP, GMA News
Information Courtesy of GMANews
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/228549/sports/phl-dragon-boat-paddlers-strike-gold-in-florida
and
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/171139/sports/rp-dragon-boat-rowers-scoop-2-gold-medals-in-world-meet
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