THE Philippines concluded its participation in the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China, with a commendable performance, securing a total of four gold medals.

This achievement matches the country’s medal count from the 2018 edition of the Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.

Finishing 17th overall, Filipino athletes also clinched two silver medals and an impressive 12 bronze medals, resulting in a total medal tally of 18 for the Philippines at the Asiad. The closing ceremony of the event took place on Sunday evening, October 8.

In comparison to their performance in Indonesia, the Philippines maintained their gold and silver medal haul but fell slightly short in the bronze category. Nevertheless, the nation managed to surpass its previous 19th-place finish by climbing two spots in the overall rankings.

The host nation, China, dominated the Games with an astonishing 201 gold medals, along with 111 silver and 71 bronze medals,
accumulating a total of 383 medals.

This victory marked China’s 11th consecutive overall championship in the Asian Games since their first win in 1982 in India. Japan secured the second position with 51 gold, 67 silver, and 69 bronze medals, followed by South Korea in third place with 42 gold, 59 silver, and 89 bronze medals. India took fourth place with 28 gold, 38 silver, and 41 bronze medals, while Uzbekistan rounded out the top five with 22 gold, 18 silver, and 31 bronze medals.

Before the Hangzhou Games, the President of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino, had set a target of winning at least four gold medals for the country. Initially, this goal seemed challenging as the Philippine contingent struggled to secure gold medals in the first week of competition.

Fortunately, Ernest John ‘EJ’ Obiena, ranked as the world’s number 2 pole vaulter, delivered the Philippines its first gold medal by setting a new Asiad men’s pole vault record of 5.90 meters on September 30. This marked a significant improvement for Obiena, who had finished in seventh place in 2018 with a clearance of 5.30 meters.

The Philippines continued its quest for gold, and Meggie Ochoa clinched another gold on October 5 despite battling fever and hip pain. Ochoa, a two-time world champion and 2018 Asiad bronze medalist, emerged victorious in the ju-jitsu women’s -48kg final, defeating Balqees Abdulla of the United Arab Emirates.

The following day, October 6, proved pivotal for the Philippines as they secured two gold medals, meeting the POC’s target. Ju-jitsu artist Annie Ramirez unexpectedly became a champion, winning the women’s -57kg class by defeating Galina Duvanova of Kazakhstan.

Later that evening, Gilas Pilipinas, led by interim coach Tim Cone and naturalized player Justin Brownlee, secured the gold in the men’s basketball tournament, marking the Philippines’ first gold in Asiad basketball in 61 years.

Notably, Arnel Mandal and Eumir Marcial contributed to the country’s medal haul with two silver medals, while Marcial’s performance also secured his spot in the Paris Olympics next year as an Asiad boxing finalist.

Additionally, the Philippines boasted 12 bronze medalists in various sports, including taijiquan and taijijian all-around, sanda, weightlifting, tennis, mixed doubles tennis, poomsae, sepak takraw, kata, and ju-jitsu, as well as in BMX racing.

In summary, the Philippines showcased its athletic prowess and determination, achieving a remarkable performance at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

(AI/MNM)

BMX Racing’s a team effort for bronze medalist Patrick Coo (right) and Daniel Caluag.

HANGZHOU — Patrick Coo clinched bronze on Sunday in Chun’an to continue the Philippines medal tradition in BMX racing of cycling in the Asian Games.

Coo’s bronze was the seventh for Team Philippines and it came the morning after Ernest John ‘EJ” Obiena won an expected gold medal in men’s pole vault.

“I’m very happy but hurting for sure,” said the 21-year-old Coo, who scraped the upper part of his right thigh after crashing in the first moto of the 12-cyclist final. “I ripped my pants in the process and got it fixed immediately.”

Japan’s Asuma Nakai, 23, and junior bronze medalist in the UCI world championships last year in Nantes (France) won gold, followed very closely by Southeast Asian Games champion Komet Sukpraset of Thailand and Coo.

With Coo’s bronze, the Philippines had a medal in each of the last three Asian Games—Danny Caluag won the country’s one and only gold medal in Incheon in 2014 and got bronze in Indonesia five years ago.

Caluag, 36, was in the thick of the race but was shoved to sixth place in the final—he raced still recovering from a broken rib he sustained in training in the US.

Coo, an Olympic Solidarity scholar, felt amazing about his stint in Hangzhou.
“I feel very happy, I went straight to the biggest one, the Asian Games,” said Coo as he thanked Philippine Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who heads PhilCycling.

“This could kick off more major accomplishments for Patrick,” Tolentino said. “He’s only 21, so young, and he’s been training seriously and diligently the past year or so under the Olympic Solidarity program.”

Tolentino said cycling has again confirmed its consistency in contributing to a medal in the Asian Games.

“It’s a motivation for PhilCycling to achieve more in the international arena,” he said.

Coo flew in four days ago from Aigle, Switzerland, straight from his UCI World Cycling Center training camp. He had to spend a night in Hangzhou—some 150 km from Chun’an where the cycling competitions are staged—because he was directed to the main Athletes Village instead of a bus to the cycling venue.

His crash in the first moto on Sunday wasn’t anything unique in Coo. He almost always does, but he’s been trying to correct his mistakes.

“I’m fast and everything, but I get so much adrenalin most of the time. I need to take it step by step, by staying calm more on the bike,” he said.

Coo called his parents in the US—Benjamin who’s from Iloilo and Romilyn Lag from Cagayan de Oro minutes after the race.

“They told me to pamper myself when I get back to the Philippines,” said Coo, who stays in Tagaytay City which has the country’s only UCI BMX race track.

“I haven’t eaten rice for the past three months while I was in Switzerland, so time to gorge in Tagaytay,” he said, adding “and a lot of isaw.”

(ai/mnm)

HANGZHOU, China – Alex Eala suffered a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6 defeat to Chinese top seed Zheng Qinwen but successfully ended the country’s 17-year medal drought in tennis Thursday at the city’s Olympic Tennis Centre here.

Several inches shorter than the Chinese ace, the 5-foot-8 Eala recovered from a sluggish start with a dominant performance in the second set.

Fatigue, however, caught up with her after a double duty Wednesday when she played singles in the morning and mixed doubles later in the day.

As her singles match with an Indian rival, the mixed doubles were also tiring as Eala and first-time partner Francis Alcantara needed three sets to top-seeded pair of Yuki Bhambri and Ankita Ravinderkrishan Raina of India.

Eala stands to win another bronze if she and Alcantara beat their Thai rivals in the quarters.

For a while, Eala, 18, appeared headed to scoring a big upset over her 21-year-old rival after taking a 3-1 lead in the deciding third set in a game she capped with a sizzling return.

But Eala’s magic suddenly disappeared, limited to just four points the rest of the way.

But while Eala was looking tired and weary, the Chinese bet, who is ranked No. 23 in the world, was gaining momentum as she started to bomb the Filipina princess with wicked forehand winners.

Eala was held scoreless in the 8th game and that proved the end of her as Qinwen took a 5-3 advantage. (ai/mnm)

HANGZHOU – If fortunate enough, taekwondo could be the first from Team Philippines to deliver a medal in the 19th Asian Games here.

Seeing action first for the “Deadly Dozen” are poomsae bets in SEA Games champion King Patrick Perez and Jocel Lyn Ninobla.

For one, Perez is ranked No. 4 in his category while Ninobla is slightly favored to advance to the next round.

“They’re both ready,” said taekwondo official Rocky Samson.

The taekwondo jins are hoping to conjure the magic of 2006 that saw the PH bets won 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.

“It’s hard but we will try our best,” added the amiable official.“That’s our challenge.”

The Doha edition was the country’s most productive stint so far since the inception of the popular Korean sport in the quadrennial event in the 1986 Seoul edition.

Olympian champion Kurt Bryan Barbosa, meantime, will banner the free sparring team along with multi-titled Samuel Morrison and Kirstie Ellaine Alora.

Other members of the “deadly dozen” are David Cea, Arven Alcantara, Veronica Garces, and Jubilee Briones. In the 2018 Palembang edition in Indonesia, the taekwondo jins finished 10th overall after winning three medals, including two in team events of poomsae.

The lone individual medal was accounted for by Pauline Lopez, but she won’t be returning for this year’s edition. (AI/MNM)

HANGZHOU, China — Agatha Wong brought home a bronze medal from the previous Asian Games five years ago.

The nation’s top taolu specialist aims to return to the Philippines with another medal around her neck.

Wong will compete in the wushu competitions of the 19th Asian Games at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre on Sunday, aiming for no less than another podium finish in the women’s women’s taijiquan and taijijian (swordplay) all-around.

Prior to her trip to the Zhejiang province capital here, the five-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist was busy juggling her time between training and medical school.

“Training while studying is tough. You have to balance everything,’’ said Wong, a freshman at the UERM Memorial Medical Center in Manila.

She won a pair of taijiquan gold medals in the SEA Games and two more in the taijijian event before wushu federation officials decided to merge both events beginning at the Cambodia SEA Games early this year.

The 25-year-old beauty still aced the combined events with a fifth SEAG gold in Phnom Penh last May, making Wong a worthy medal prospect in tomorrow’s finale.

“I’ve trained hard. As they say, if there’s a will, there’s a way,” said Wong, a silver medalist in taijiquan during the 2015 World Wushu Championships in Jakarta. (AI/MNM)

Image Courtesy of: Inquirer.net

HANGZHOU, China—Rower Joanie Delgaco placed second in the semifinal heat on Friday to progress into the final of the women’s single sculls in the 19th Asian Games at the Fuyang Water Sports Center here.

The 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist stormed out of the gates before Shiho Yonekawa of Japan zoomed past her halfway into the 2,000-meter race to rule the race in eight minutes and 6.32 seconds.

Delgaco then maintained her speed throughout and arrived in 8:18.30, joining Yonekawa in the medal race along with third-placer Wing Wun Leung of Hong Kong (8:20.35).

Tokyo Olympian Cris Nievarez failed to reach the final after winding fourth in his semifinal heat in the men’s single sculls.

Nievarez timed 7:25.65, just three seconds slower than India’s Balraj Panwar (7:22.22) in the semis race where only the top three finishers from each heat advance to the finals.

China’s Liang Zhang finished ahead of the pack in 7:12.77 before Kazakhstan’s Vladislav Yakovlev checked in at second (7:19.27).

Besides Yonekawa and Wing, Delgaco will be in the company of Uzbekistan’s Anna Prakaten, China’s Liu Ruiqi and Taipei’s Huang Yi Ting in the medal race set on Monday.

Prakaten arrived the fastest in the other women’s semis heat in 7:47.88 followed by Liu (7:55.69) and Huang (8:14.36).
(ai/mnm)