VIENTIANE – A pair of athletes in their mid-forties provided the day’s high drama as the Philippines made a serious bid to land among the top three in the 25th Southeast Asian Games.

Shooter Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla recaptured the men’s rapid fire event after 16 years while judoka John Baylon copped an unprecedeted ninth consecutive gold medal.

The Philippines went 3-of-3 in the boxing finals and nailed its sixth gold medal in athletics to boost its collection to 29 gold medals, just three shy of third-running Singapore.

Going into the final two days of the Games, four nations are separated by just three golds with Indonesia occuping fourth with 31 and Malaysia fifth with 29.

The race for the top two spots is equally exciting with Thailand barely on top with 60 golds with Vietnam trailing with 55.

Padilla, who first competed in 1977 as a 13-year-old, finished third in the qualifying, but shot better in the finals to top the event with a score of 753.20, edging Malaysian Hasli Izwan and Pham Cao Son who tied for second with 749.70.

The 45-year-old son of two-time Olympian Tom Ong had to wait for 30 minutes to have his victory confirmed while technicians worked ferevishly to restore the computer that conked out.

“My teammates knew I already won, but I wasn’t sure until they announced it,” said Padilla who  last won in 1993.

The first thing Padilla did after he won was to call his father.

“I just had to call papa. This means a lot to him,” said Padilla who now has five gold medals under his belt.

Just before dusk fell, Baylon, also 45, accounted for the second gold medal in judo when he sent to school Watcharin Jampawong, an 18-year-old judoka from Thailand.

“Parang anak ko na lang kalaban ko,” said the multi-titled athlete. “Mas nahirapan pa ako noong semifinals kasi taga Turkey kalaban ko.”

Baylon was referring to Mynmar’s Aung Moe.

Meanwhile, Filipino boxers opened their bid with a sweep of three final bouts at the Booyong gym inside the National University.

Annie Albania, the reigning Asian Indoor Games flyweight champion, stopped Indri Sambaimana of Indonesia in the second round to cap a perfect 3-of-3 showing atop the ring.

Earlier, pinweight Josie Gabuco and light flyweight Alice Kate Aparri pulled off contrasting wins to nail the country’s first two gold medals.

Pinweight Josie Gabuco escaped with a 6-5 verdict over Vietnamese Nguyen Thi Ho while light flyweight Alice Kate Aparri pounded out a one-sided 15-4 win over Laos’ Milvady Hongfa.

The country’s hot start in boxing was matched by Marestella Torres’ record-breaking win in the women’s long jump at the National Stadium.

The reigning Asian champion leaped 6.68 meters to erase the 20-year-old record of the legendary Elma Muros that stood at 6.52 meters.

Torres made the winning jump on her fourth try as she defeated Thitima Muangjan of Thailand (6.35 meters) and Maria Natalia (6.23 meters).

The Philippines is also assured of a gold medal in tennis when Fil-Americans Cecil Mamiit and Treat Huey advanced in the final of men’s singles.

Huey stunned top seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), while Mamiit breezed past Tan Nysan of Cambodia , 6-1, 6-2.

The victories made up for the Filipinas’ departure in women’s singles.

Denise Dy, slowed down by a knee injury, was beaten by Lavinia Tananta, 5-7, 4-6, while Riza Zalameda bowed to Ayu Fani Damayanti, 3-6, 2-6, to settle for the bronze medals.

Early in the day, The Philippines suffered another big blow in billiards when Dennis Orcollo lost to Vietnam’s Nguyen Phuc Long, 8-9, in the semifinals of the men’s 9-ball pool singles. Orcollo

The loss relegated Orcollo to a bronze medal match with Malaysian Ibrahim Amir who lost to Indonesian Ricky Yang, 6-9, in the other semifinal match.

The Philippines will come home without the gold medal in men’s 9-ball pool, a big dent to its reputation as the world’s top pool superpower Ramil Gallego, the other RP entry in the event, was earlier eliminated by Nitiwat Kanjanasri of Thailand, 6-9.

The Philippines also failed to win the 9-ball pool doubles when the powerhouse tandem of Efren “Bata” Reyes and Django Bustamante suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Nitiwat and Surathep Phoochalam Thursday in the quarterfinals.

The Filipinos, however, remain in the thick of the fight in women’s 9-ball pool singles where Rubilen Amit and Iris Ranola are fighting for spots in the semifinals.

Early Wednesday, the Filipinos captured two bronze medals in wushu and petanque, an obscure sport that originated in France.

Daniel Parantac placed third in the men’s taijiquan in wushu while the mixed trio of Aristides Samia, Arnulfo Masumbol and Mary Grace Munar lost in the semifinals in petanque. (Tempo Sports)