VIENTIANE, Laos — Eunice Kathleen Alora outclassed Malaysian Nurul Nadia Mahamat Friday to reach the women’s bantamweight final in taekwondo in the 25th Southeast Asian Games.

Alora, bronze medalist two years ago in Thailand, takes on Thai Sarita Phongsri in the final later in the afternoon.

Alora was one of two fighters that fought in the preliminaries.

Bantamweight Jeffrey Figueroa rallied to beat Vietnamese Nguyen Quang Huy, 3-1, to gain the semifinals. Trailing, 0-1, with 23 seconds left, Figueroa connected with a head kick to snatch the win.

Figueroa was fighting Indonesian Mery Wandra at presstime for a spot in the final.

Wandra defeated Phouthasone Thammavong of Laos , 4-3.

Olympian Tshomlee Go, the only other RP jin in action, was set to face Malaysian Mohd Afifuddin Bin Omar Sidek in the semifinals.

On Thursday, the Philippines captured two gold medals courtesy of welterweight Mary Antoinette Rivero and heavyweight Alex Briones to bring its collection to three golds, counting the early triumph notched by world champions Rani Ann Ortega, Camille Alarilla, and Janice Lagman in the women’s poomsae event.

The Filipinos trail Vietnam in the battle for the taekwondo title.

Vietnam has so far collected four golds, two silvers and two bronzes while the Philippines has a 3-2-3 gold-silver-bronze medal tally. Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and Malaysia have one gold apiece.

Six final events are at stake in taekwondo Friday.

In swimming, Miguel Molina shoots for his second gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley.

The Japan-based swimmer won the 400-meter individual medley Thursday night.

Molina topped the first heat in 2:09.60, but his time was only the fourth best. Thailand’s Nuttapong Ketin, the top qualifier, won the fast second heat in 2:08.68. Filipino-American Robert Walsh owned the third best time in 2:09.38.

Daniel Coakley clocked 51.69 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle to finish second behind top qualifier Daniel Bego of Malaysia who did 51:63. Charles Walker, another Fil-Am, qualified with 52.30 seconds.

Ten gold medals will be disputed in the swimming finals Friday night at the Vientiane Aquatic Center inside the National Sports Complex.

Meanwhile, the Philippines opens its campaign in boxing with Asian Games champion Joan Tipon eyeing revenge against Thai Chatchai Buddee who beat him last April during the King’s Cup in Thailand.