Hero surfer: Pinoy bet sacrifices SEA Games gold bid to rescue Indonesian foe

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is raking in the gold medals in almost all fronts and on its way to eclipsing its previous hauls of 91 in 1991 and 112 in 2005 when it hosted the Southeast Asian Games.

It is also winning the hearts of the competitors.

Away from the limelight and in a sport not as glitzy and popular as others, Filipino surfer Roger Casugay carved out a performance worthy of a gold as he sacrificed his sure-fire victory to save the life of his Indonesian foe Arhip Nurhidayat in surfing competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Last Friday at the Monalisa Point in San Juan, La Union, Casugay was on the verge of snaring the gold but, without hesitation, gave it all up after he saw Nurhidayat lost his board and fell to the rolling waves and saved the latter from drowning.

Casugay and Nurhidayat were then brought back by two more local surfers and rode a single surfboard to safety.

Casugay ended up losing the gold in the event postponed thrice due to Typhoon Tisoy.

But he won the hearts of Nurhidayat, who raised his right hand and declared him champion, as well as everyone for his sacrifice and heroism.