Foul-prone Torres misses Asiad medal

GUANGZHOU—Marestella Torres failed to land on the podium in the women’s long jump final Tuesday, registering a 6.49-meter leap that was good only for a heart-breaking fourth place in the 16th Asian Games at the Aoti Main Stadium here. 

Torres was actually tied with Uzbekistan’s Yuliya Tarasova for third place, but long jump rules turn to the athlete’s second best jump to break ties. Torres fouled all five of her succeeding attempts after logging a pace-setting 6.49. 

Tarasova’s second best leap was 6.42. 

South Korean Jung Soo-nok nailed the gold on her fourth attempt with a 6.53. Jung failed to match Torres’ 6.49 prior to that golden leap. 

It was a sorry defeat for Team Philippines, which remained in 17th place in the overall medal tally with two gold medals, two silvers and eight bronzes. The country now lags behind four other Southeast Asian Nations—Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore—in the standings. 

The chess team led by young Grandmaster Wesley So overpowered Uzbekistan, 3.5-0.5, to remain in second spot, two points behind powerhouse China going into the last three rounds at the Guangzhou Chess Institute. 

In tenpin bowling, men’s singles gold medalist Biboy Rivera rolled a 1852 series in the first block of the Masters event at the Tianhe Bowling Center to stay in second spot, 114 pins behind pacesetting Larp Yannaphon of Thailand. 

Liza del Rosario lay fifth in the women’s side at 1745, 118 pins behind leader Sun Ok-hwang of South Korea. 

Torres owns a personal best of 6.68m, which should have been good for the gold. She won the Asian championships at the same venue last year with a leap of 6.51. 

Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan finished second with 6.50. 

Now, Torres has retirement on her mind. 

“I sacrificed a lot for this event,” a tearful Torres said. “I feel like I want to retire. I trained abroad but when I got back to the Philippines, I could not train well because of dilapidated facilities.” 

And as the Games enter their homestretch, the PH delegation will look to boxing and karate to try to better the country’s four-gold Asiad haul in Doha, Qatar, four years ago. 

And boxing indeed hopes to make a statement when three boxers eye championship slots Wednesday at the far-flung Foshan gymnasium. 

Flyweight Rey Saludar, light flyweight Vic Saludar and female boxer Annie Albania will face off against separate opponents in an attempt to get into the gold-medal round—and earn a shot at the P3-million bonus telecommunications magnate Manny V. Pangilinan has dangled for a gold. 

Boxing coach Roel Velasco, in fact, has issued a challenge to his wards. 

“The Filipinos are tired of silver and bronze medals,” he told reporters Tuesday. “It’s time to shoot for gold.” 

Albania fights Aya Shinmoto of Japan in the women’s 48 to 51 kg semifinals while Rey Saludar squares off against another Japanese, Katsuaki Susa, in the men’s 52 kg. Vic Saludar, meanwhile, challenges Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan in the men’s 46 to 49 kg class. 

Also scheduled Wednesday at the Guangzhou University is the quarterfinal battle in basketball between South Korea and Smart Gilas Pilipinas. 

The karate sheet was still being drawn at press time, but the country’s representatives were optimistic of putting a competitive show once the event gets going Wednesday at the Guangdong Gymnasium. 

“We’ll do our best,” said Marna Pabillore, who will vie in a heavier class for just the third major competition. 

The veteran fighter from Cagayan de Oro City leads a four-strong karate team that includes fellow kumite (sparring) standouts Rolando Lagman Jr. and Mae Soriano. Also part of the squad is Cebuano Noel Espinosa, who will compete in the men’s individual kata. 

Sheila Mae Perez also sees action today in the women’s 1m springboard at the Aoti Aquatics Center a day after teammates Jaime Asok and Rexel Fabriga figured in a vehicular accident that forced them to miss their dives. 

PH chief of mission Joey Romasanta is investigating the incident, with particular emphasis on why the divers were still made to compete instead of being immediately brought to the hospital for a full check-up. 

“I asked the coach to submit a report as to who made the decision to continue competing,” said Romasanta. “I hope to be able to get that report soon.” 

Maritess Bitbit finished 13th with a time of 2:47:48.83 in the women’s road race that was won by Hsiao Mei-yu (2:47:46.12) of Chinese Taipei, as the Nationals capped their cycling bid without a medal. 
Bitbit wound up sixth among Southeast Asian entries. 

Jerry Angana was ousted in wrestling, losing 4-0 to Korean Kyong Il Yang in what the official results sheet tagged as victory by superiority. Angana also bowed to Mongolia’s Tsogtbaatar Damdinbazar in the repechage, 4-0.