TITLE: Filipino Students runs down Indonesia in Sepak Takraw during the 30 th SEA Games

Filipino Students ran down Indonesian Veterans in Sepak Takraw during the 30 th SEA Games
at the Subic Gym on December 11, 2019. The Philippines made a huge comeback in the final set with
Bullo executing successful blocks and ferocious serves. The final spike concluded the game with 23-21.
Indonesia’s Uba started the match with a serve that was quickly rebutted by Philippines’
Bullo drawing first blood with a spike.
The Philippines drew a gap between their score and Indonesia’s, the indonesian duo didn’t
hesitate in taking advantage of the Philippines’ strikes and serves by scoring two points due to
technical outs.
Indonesia’s beautiful block placed the philippines in a tight spot with only two points left to
be overtaken by the indonesian duo.
Philippines’ service ran them in the lead with 12 points, leaving indonesia 2 points behind,
Joshua Bullo then served the indonesian veterans with a 7-win streak.
Pago performed an impeccable block that ended the Philippines’ streak. But that didn’t stop
the Philippines from winning the first set with an 8 point deficit.
Bullo and Torno immediately spiked the lead of Indonesia by winning 3 consecutive games,
making their deficit closer to a point tie.
Philipines made a failure to block Indonesia’s spike that ultimately concluded the second set,
with Philippines being 6 points behind Indonesia’s set point.
Jenituda drew first blood in the 3rd set, and was instantly followed by Uba’s kick from
indonesia that rallied to a back and forth with both of the country’s score that ended with Indonesia’s
3 point lead.
This set took an unexpected turn as Indonesia’s 7 point lead froze while Philippines catch up
to Indonesia with Bullo scoring a 4 point love.
With only 4 points left to spare for both teams, the heat is on as they exchanged serves that
ended with rallies that made both teams tie on the 20 th point match.
 Athletic Treason

Humans are all born and raised with identities we can’t erase, and as they grow older our
characters of being a patriot only gets stronger. Athletes have a strong conviction of representing
their countries. For some, their considered to be like a soldier. They don’t carry guns, they don’t carry
bombs, but they represent and bring honor to the country, and they’re given as much recognition as
the people that do. But recognition does not equal to support, and maybe that’s why athletes commit
treason. They support the competitors of the state in war within the international sports scene,
continuously bombarding each other with skills in hopes to overtake the other. This can be the fruit of
either lack of support or insufficient opportunities, and for the Philippines’ situation, they’re the fruits
of each other.

For an event that represents so much national pride, athletes like Obiena are offered
opportunities not like any other by various countries. The product of University of Santo Tomas will
not surprise anyone if he ever considers the offer on the table. And for some athletes, they didn’t just
consider it, but also grasped the opportunity that the Philippines lacked. Cavite-born GM wesley now
represents the US for the chess scene. GM Wesley became the front cover for the Philippine sports
official’s mistakes. GM Wesley became a prodigy at such a young age and became the youngest
grandmaster in the Philippines, but on 2013 he made an executive decision to switch nationalities as
he is already tired of the Philippines’ dysfunctional system.

Mentioned beforehand are the clear representations of how athletes feel the need to betray
their own nation. Despite having so much talent and skill, without proper support and opportunities
their talent and skills begin to pale in comparison to other countries. With opportunities knocking on
their doors, Filipinos won’t be surprised anymore if they took a step forward outside their homes. The
need of the government to acknowledge the current situation of the sports scene in the Philippines.
As the Philippines recover from the dreaded cess-pool that the pandemic placed us in and athletes
need the support of the Philippine government more than ever. If not, we’re just giving them more
reason to become betrayers to their own nation.
 A great and uexpected comeback was made by the Philippines. Bullo’s spike catches up to
Indonesia’s set point, the match concluded with both teams being on set points but the Philippines
reigned champion 21-19.