PHNOM PENH—Hergie Bacyadan, the Philippines’ top bet in the sport of vovinam, never lost a match at the ICOC Hall F in Phnom Penh in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games here.
But she is going home with a silver, no thanks to a raffle that settled the winner of her championship match with a Vietnamese.
After beating Thai Tayida Koskokitha in overwhelming fashion in the semifinals, Bacyadan looked forward to another dominant performance in the female 65kg combat event finals against Thi Thailando Ngan Bui.
The Vietnamese survived Bacyadan’s onslaught and ended the three-round regulation at 5-5. They were given a two-minute extra round to settle the ultimate winner, but the match again finished at 6-6, with the Philippines filing a video protest.
Bacyadan’s coaches claimed a clear point that came from a solid punch before the buzzer sounded. The technical committee made a video review, but Vietnam’s coach contested that there was a counter that should nullify both points.
The Philippines’ protest was rejected, so the coaches agreed to another extra round, but was declined by Vietnam’s side. In this case, the technical committee said the rule was to declare the winner via a raffle.
Vietnam’s Ngan Bui proved to be the lucky one as she picked the ball with the word winner written on it, winning a SEA Games gold via a raffle.
Not content with the decision, team manager Roselyn Hung submitted a formal written protest so the awarding ceremony was delayed pending the decision on the matter. The next day, the technical committee, upheld the decision granting the victory to Vietnam.
“We were disappointed because we knew Hergie won the bout fair and square. We pursued our case until the end, but we didn’t get a favorable decision,” said Hung.
Everyone in the stadium rooted for Bacyadan and agreed in unison in her favor when the slow-motion video was shown at the venue.
She was given a standing ovation as she exited the playing field. It would have been historic for the Philippines, which has yet to win a gold in vovinam, the martial arts sport that originated in Vietnam, in its second edition in the biennial games.
During the awarding ceremony the next day, everyone—from players, officials to volunteers—wanted to get a selfie with her as she held her silver that glittered like gold.
She had become the tournament’s rockstar.