Folayang, 3 other wushu bets advance in world tilt

ANKARA, Turkey—Mixed martial arts fighter Edward Folayang advanced to the round of 16 Tuesday along with three other Filipino sanda specialists in the Wushu World Championships at the Ankara Sports Arena.

Folayang bucked a dislocated nose to beat Hama Jean Luc of France in their 70 kg sanda (formerly sansou) clash to join 2007 wushu world series bronze medalist Benjie Rivera, Mark Eddiva and 2011 Philippine National Games champion Francisco Solis who also humbled their respective opponents.

Folayang, who broke his nose in an MMA encounter last month, abandoned the 75 kg division that boasted of top fighters from China, Iran and a number of European countries after losing some 12 pounds.

“I have a better chance in this weight class and I’m comfortable with the adjustments,” said the 27-year-old 2006 Asian Games silver medalist.

Eddiva, bronze medalist in last year’s Guangzhou Asiad, dominated Ryan Badran of the United States throughout their 65 kg match, while the head judge stopped Rivera from further punishing Italian Simeone Lo Presti late in the second round of their duel.

Solis, a neophyte in the international scene, dropped the first round to Rafael Tarverdiyev of Azerbaijan before bouncing back with a barrage of punches in the succeeding rounds.

Matches in sanda, wushu’s full-contact discipline, allow fighters to punch, kick and ground an opponent in three rounds of three minutes each.

In the women’s and men’s 52 kg category, Mary Jane Estimar and Dembert Arcita moved to the quarterfinals after drawing first-round byes, needing only one win to reach the medal round slated today.

The victories in sanda overshadowed the string of defeats in taolu, the rhythmic discipline of the sport.

World junior gold medalist and 17-year-old John Keithly Chan and Engelbert Addongan failed to impress judged in changquan, an event akin to karatedo’s kata.

Thornton Sayan and Denver Parantac also learned their lessons in cudgel or staff play (gun shu) after placing 28th and 26th, respectively, out of 54 with the gold medal going to Jia Rui of China.