Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) – The duo of Islay Erika Bomogao and Rhichein Yosorez clinched the Philippines’ first medal in muay thai with a gold in the women’s waikru event of the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Tuesday at the Vinh Phuc Gymnasium in Vietnam.
Bomogao and Yosorez initially won the silver medal, but the Philippine muay thai team lodged a protest after they found a discrepancy in the score of former gold medal winner and host nation Vietnam.
“The Vietnam team went over the two-minute waikru limit, so there should have been a deduction. They did it in both rounds. So, the scoring is wrong,” Muay Thai Association of the Philippines secretary general Pearl Managuelod told CNN Philppines.
Managuelod said their staff members were recording the match, which they used as basis for their protest.
Their protest was successful and the Philippines was awarded the gold, with the host country as the silver medal winners.
The Bomogao-Yosorez duo finished with a score of 8.68, while hometown bets Thi Diem Trang Pham and Thi Bich Lieu Pham received 8.56 in the final tally. Thailand’s Mawadee Heetnoo and Thanawan Thongduang bagged the bronze medal with 8.35.
