ANKARA, Turkey—The Philippine sanda team earned four berths in the gold-medal round as three other Filipino bets captured bronze medals on the penultimate day of the 11th Wushu World Championships at the Ankara Sports Arena here.
Jessie Aligaga (48 kg), Dembert Arcita (52 kg), Mary Jane Estimar (52 kg) and Marianne Mariano (56 kg) advanced to the final round a day after tai chi master Daniel Parantac secured the Philippines’ first medal with a bronze in the taiji jian (tai chi with sword) event of taolu.
Mark Eddiva (65 kg), Rhea Mae Rifani and Benjie Rivera (56 kg) also picked up bronze medals to add to the country’s haul.
Eddiva yielded to Mohammadseifi Mohsen of Iran, while Rivera failed to advance past Li Kang of China.
An old knee injury, however, prevented Rifani from completing her semifinal bout against India’s Sanathoi Devi.
But the sanda team sustained the Philippines’ campaign as Aligaga fell Egyptian Ahmet Hama to his knees with a crisp right straight, while Arcita rallied to conquer South Korean Jung Woo Seo.