THE PHILIPPINES’ Samuel Morrison grimaces in pain after he was accidentally hit in the neck by his Iranian foe. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
INCHEON, South Korea—Veteran Samuel Morrison and Asian Games first-timer Ronna Ilao ended the country’s wait for medals, reeling in bronze medals each in the taekwondo competitions at faraway Ganghwa Dolmens Stadium, even as boxing produced the promise of two more medals at the 17th edition of the quadrennial competition here.
Count on boxing to deliver a couple more medals.
Mario Fernandez unlocked the riddle of India’s Shiva Thapa, scoring a unanimous decision victory over the world’s No. 3-ranked bantamweight at Seonhak Gymnasium after previously losing to him in two bouts.
Fernandez’s quarterfinal victory assured him of a bronze medal like light flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga and middleweight Wilfredo Lopez.
Barriga eked out a 2-1 victory over Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan. In the last bout for a Filipino Tuesday, Lopez scored a technical knockout over Mongolia’s Shinebayar Narmandakh after the referee stopped the bout at 2:05 of the first round, due to a gushing cut over Narmandakh right eye.
If the three Filipino fighters win their semifinal matches, they will be assured of at least a silver medal.
Ilao, who has not even seen action for the country in the smaller Southeast Asian Games, delivered the first bronze when she defeated Luisa dos Santos Rosa of Timor Leste, 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the women’s -49 kg class.
She engaged China’s Li Zhaoyi in a tense semifinal battle where neither jin could score before getting the raw end of a furious exchange late in the second round that led to a 5-1 defeat, denying the 20-year-old flyweight a sure silver medal.
“We will really go all out to win a gold medal here,” said coach Roberto Cruz, whose team next fields in Al Christian dela Cruz and Pauline Lopez on Wednesday.
“We’ll just try our best to win the first gold medal of the Philippines in Asian Games taekwondo.”
Morrison took a longer route to the bronze, crushing Macau’s Wong Soi-chun, 17-0, before a shaky 9-8 triumph over Yezhan Abylkas of Kazahstan, where he had a 9-1 lead before surrendering eight straight points in the third.
“We ran into a bit of trouble and Samuel had to play a sudden-death,” said Cruz. “But that just shows that you can’t take anyone for granted here.”
Morrison later ripped Akbar Aitakhunov of Kyrgyztan, 19-4, before bowing to Masoud Hajizarvareh of Iran, 1-5, in a bout that was stopped in the second round when Hajizarvareh inadvertently hit the Filipino in the neck.
Morrison fell down to the mat and doctors ruled him unable to continue.
“Our fight continues,” said Hong Sun-chon, the president of the Philippine Taekwondo Association. “We will aim for gold and we will do our very best.”
The two bronze medals hiked the country’s tally to 0-2-4 (gold-silver-bronze).
“I changed my style against [Thapa] this time,” said Fernandez, a native of Bukidnon. “He is good when you attack him, so the coaches told me to just keep countering.”
Rugby saw its bid get off to a rocky start after the Volcanoes lost to China, 19-14.
Later in the day, they got whipped by Hong Kong, 40-0. The Volcanoes need to win by at least 40 points against Pakistan Wednesday to keep their medal hopes alive.
In wrestling, Margarito Agana lost his bid for a bronze, losing to Ahmadjon Mahmudov of Uzbekistan, 5-0.
At Dream Park Equestrian Grounds, Toni Leviste finished sixth in the jumping event of equestrian, losing in the jump-off for the bronze in the event ruled by Abdulah Waleed Sharbatli of Saudi Arabia.