ANKARA, TURKEY—The Philippines positioned six fighters in the quarterfinals of the 11th Wushu World Championships sanda event, all of them needing just one win to assure themselves of at least a bronze medal.
Of the four men in the running, three of them—Mark Eddiva, Francisco Solis and Benjie Rivera—gun for the sure bronze Wednesday afternoon (evening Manila time) while Marianne Mariano and Jessie Aligaga also shoot for quarterfinal slots in the morning session.
Already in the quarterfinal too are Mary Jane Estimar, Dembert Arcita and Rhea Mae Rifani. The nine-strong team has lost only one fighter thus far, Edward Folayang.
Rivera beat Tunisia’s Sliti Zied in the round of 16 (56 kgs), a critical win matched by Eddiva in outclassing Algeria’s Labi Amine (65 kgs).
Solis, only four months into the sport, turned back Turkmenistan’s Ilyas Nuryyev in the 60-kg class while Rifani displayed maturity and a new dimension in her play when she turned back a scrappy rival from Hong Kong.
Solis was decked by a solid roundhouse kick that also made his nose bleed but the tournament doctor cleared him to continue.
The Filipino taolu team continued to fare poorly, however, as Thornton Sayan and Denver Parantac were nowhere to be found in the top 25 of medal round play.