Host halts Philippines in water polo

KUALA LUMPUR – The Philippines dropped a heart-breaking 7-8 decision to host Malaysia in the men’s water polo competition of the 29th Southeast Asian Games Wednesday at the National Aquatic Center.

Down 1-4 at the break, the Filipinos rallied in the third quarter with a five-goal burst.

Skipper Roy Canete Jr., the hero in the opening day, scored with a nifty shot from the right wing with 4:30 left in the fourth period to knot the count at 7.

But the Malaysians heaved a sigh of relief as Tan Xi Yun broke away and shot from point blank range as goalkeeper Tani Gonzales Jr. tried to smother him for the winning goal with a minute and 58 seconds remaining in the match.

With a second left on the 30-second shot clock, Alamara Mumar appeared to have tied  the score anew for the Nationals with a last-gasp goal.

But his goal was nullified by the referee, as the Filipinos absorbed their first loss in the event.

“It seemed like a good goal, but we were playing against host Malaysia…” said Hungarian coach Gabi Egedi.

“We just cannot sleep in the first two quarters and hope to beat Malaysia on their home grounds and win,” Egedi noted. “I know the game was early (at 9 a.m.) but we should have played like we did against Thailand last Tuesday.”

Anchored by the heroics of Canete, the Filipinos displayed poise and focus in fashioning a 9-7 victory over the Thais last Tuesday.

 Now the Filipino water polo bets have to shrug off the Malaysian setback in 24 hours as they face defending champion Singapore, which has monopolized the SEAG water polo event, at 11 a.m. Thursday to keep their gold-medal hopes alive.