Wakeskate mixed team delivers 4th PH bronze

PHUKET, Thailand—Susan Madelene Larsson and Jose Vicente Cembrano came up with key performances to give the Philippines a bronze medal in the cable wakeskate mixed team event Tuesday at the 4th Asian Beach Games here.

Cembrano, already the bronze medalist in the individual category, topped the men’s group with 79.33 points while Larsson finished second (78.33) behind individual women’s champion Tantanasorn Chaiyabood of Thailand (81.00) at the Bangneow Dam.

The Filipinos finished with a total score of 3,802 points and boosted the country’s medal production to two gold, one silver and four bronze medals after five days of competition.

“It was a tough and difficult competition but I’m happy that we’re able to win medals,’’ said the Filipino-Swedish Larsson, who won the women’s individual silver medal Sunday.

Thailand won the event with 5,341 points with South Korea getting the silver with 5,079.

“Our opponents here are well-trained,” said the Davao-based Cembrano. “I know we can win in this event, but we must work harder than them.”

Windsurfer Geylor Coveta also moved in medal contention after the reigning world champion topped the RS:One category after five races off Karon Beach.

Coveta, the country’s flag bearer in the Incheon Asian Games, had 11 points with three races left. China’s Li Tao (16 points) lay second in the event where the lowest score wins gold.

Over on Patong Central Beach, wrestler Jason Balabal proved no match for his bigger and stronger foes in the men’s 80kg freestyle.

Balabal, silver medalist in the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar, lost two of his three matches, the last to Kyrgyzstan’s Bekbolsun Kushubakav. Balabal started with a win over Cambodia’s Loeun Chap but lost to Qatar’s Jafr Khanmkhan in his second match.

In men’s beach volleyball, Louijie Tipgos and Jade Becaldo absorbed a 21-15, 21-15 loss to China’s Zhang Lizeng and Li Zhouxin after topping the Indonesian pair of Dian Putra Santosa and Fahriansyah Fahriansyah, 21-13, 13-21, 16-14, the other day. Tipgos and Becaldo need one more win to reach the semifinals.

Edward Ybanez and Edmar Bonono also suffered their first defeat in three outings, a 21-15, 21-13 loss to Indonesia’s Koko Prasetyo Darkuncoro and Ade Candra Rachmawan.