Philippines win South East Asia Games Baseball Tournament
World No. 24 Philippines defeated the hosts and No. 31 Thailand, 5-3, in a thrilling final of the baseball tournament at the XXXIII South East Asian (SEA) Games at Her Majesty Queen Sirikit 60th Birthday Anniversary Stadium in Thanyaburi, a district in Pathum Thani province, on Friday.
Watched on by the Philippines Olympic Committee President Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino, the three-time champions scored in their first at-bat and added two runs in the third and one in the fourth to open the score. When Thailand, who are the only other team to have won SEA Games baseball gold when they won on home soil in 2007, cut the gap with a two-run sixth, the Philippines added an insurance run in the seventh.
No. 65 Indonesia beat No. 49 Singapore, 10-9, in the bronze medal game at the end of a slugfest. Singapore took a 9-8 lead into the ninth, but Indonesia scored two in their last at-bat to win the game.
The baseball tournament featured seven teams. The other participants were No. 47 Laos, No. 71 Malaysia, and Vietnam. After a round robin, the top two finishers played for gold, while the third and fourth-place teams competed for bronze.
The XXXIII SEA Games mark a historic moment for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), with four disciplines featured together at a multi-sport event for the first time since the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.
Men’s baseball led the schedule ahead of the debut of Baseball5 (December 11 to 14), and the men’s and women’s softball tournaments (December 15 to 19). All four events will be held at Her Majesty Queen Sirikit 60th Birthday Anniversary Stadium, following the unified venue model that proved successful at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The last time baseball and softball were held at the Southeast Asian Games was in 2019 in the Philippines, where the Philippines won gold in men’s baseball ahead of Thailand and Indonesia. While Singapore topped the men’s softball podium, the Philippines claimed silver and Indonesia earned bronze, and the women’s softball medals went to the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia in that order.
Photo courtesy of SEA Games