Pool player Rubilen Amit and rower Benjie Tolentino sparkled on an otherwise inauspicious day for the Philippines in the 24 th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand yesterday.

Tolentino topped the lightweight singles sculls at the Mab Pratchat Reservoir in Pattaya City , for his second gold. He combined with Jose Rodriguez in topping the men's double sculls Saturday.

Amit beating Angeline Magdalena Ticoalu of Indonesia, 7-5, in the finals at the Sima Thani Hotel Grand Ballroom for a second straight gold.

The twin wins hiked the Filipinos' haul to 16 golds, 25 silvers and 43 bronze medals. But the Philippines , which made a big move Saturday by winning 11 golds, were rooted at fourth overall, behind runaway winner Thailand , Vietnam and Singapore .

It was actually a day of near misses for the Philippines with rowers Nida Cordova and Midelle Gabiligno, triathletes George Vilog and Alessandra Araullo all settling for silver medals.

Dancesport, which delivered two golds, Saturday, settled for three silvers yesterday and two bronze medals. Also coming up with bronze finishes were Janice Hung and Daniel Parantac in the two-event taijiquan and taiji (short sword), respectively and Doha Asiad winner Rene Catalan, who got knocked out by Khwanyuen Chanthra in their sanshou 52-kilogram semis.

Other third place winners were Eduardo Buenavista and Jho Ann Banayag in the men's and women's marathon, Marites Bitbit in cycling's individual time trial, Rodriguez in the singles sculls, triathletes Arland Macasieb and Ma. Meliza Lucas, wrestler Margarito Argana (55kg), flyweight Roland Claro in muay thai's 51kg class and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz (58kg).

Boxer Bill Vicente Vicera was knocked out by Kaeo Pongprayoon at the 1:45 mark of the third round of their pinweight semifinals to become the second casualty in the men's division, after Wilfredo Lopez.

Meanwhile, the highly-touted men's basketball team warmed up for its showdown with Thailand by clobbering Indonesia , 75-49. Gabe Norwood spearheaded the win with 19 points, while Bacoleño Jeffrei Chan added six markers.

But the women's team proved to be a letdown, losing to Thailand , 70-54, despite taking a three-point lead at halftime. *CPT

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