Ochoa, Ramirez capture ABG jiu-jitsu gold medals

Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa and Annie Ramirez bring a winning feeling to the mat every time they fight.

So when the duo vied in the jiu-jitsu competition of the ongoing 2016 Asian Beach Games (ABG) in Danang, Vietnam, the thought of going all the way was their strongest weapon against the opposition.

Ochoa, a three-time jiu-jitsu world champion, and Ramirez bagged a gold medal each, powering the Philippines to a 2-1-14 gold-silver-bronze medal haul so far in the continental competition and reasserting the country’s strength in the sport.

“Before any competition, I always think of a positive outcome,” said Ochoa, who ruled the 45-kilogram class. “I don’t let the thought of losing get into my head.”

The victory was the second straight for Ramirez, who also bagged the gold in the 2014 ABG in Phuket, Thailand.

“I always think of getting the gold every time I compete and so far I have been successful,” said Ramirez, who downed jiu-jitsu fighters from Turkmenistan and Lebanon before scoring a 5-4 victory over a Thai foe in the women’s -55 kg final.

Interestingly, jiu-jitsu—a combat sport strikingly similar to judo and wrestling—has been lined up as a regular sport in the 2018 Asian Games, increasing the country’s chances of improving on its single-gold finish in the 2014 edition.

“It will be exciting to compete in the next Asian Games and earn the same result,” said Ramirez.

Ochoa defeated entries from host Vietnam and Turkmenistan and then won by triangle choke against her Thai foe in the gold-medal match.

The 26-year-old Ateneo and Poveda graduate from San Juan also dominated her weight class in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship in the United States since 2014.

“We Filipinos are capable of winning in this sport on the global stage,” said Ju-Jitsu Federation of the Philippines president Ramon “Choy” Cojuangco.  “I guess we can also be successful in Asia, particularly in the Asian Games.”

Also delivering jiu-jitsu medals were Gian Taylor Dee, who settled for the silver in the men’s -62 kg class, and Filipino-Australian Apryl Jessica Eppinger, who got a bronze in women’s -62 kg.

Eppinger was a former track cyclist who captured a silver medal in the 500-meter individual time trial in the 2011 Palembang Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.