Balangui settles for wushu silver

Jomar Balangui dropped a two-set decision to Peng Yuan of China Tuesday night to settle for the silver medal in wushu’s men’s sanda-52 kg event in the 29th Summer Universiade in Taipei.

The 19-year-old campaigner from University of Baguio, who beat American Isiah Ray Enriquez, 2-0, in Monday’s semifinals, was the lone medalist among 130 student-athletes fielded by the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines and supported by San Miguel Corp., Bestank and Garfield Sportswear.

Balangui became only the third Filipino medalist in the biennial meet after taekwondo silver medalist Samuel Thomas Morrison in the 2011 Shenzhen Universiade and Grandmaster Wesley So, who won the men’s chess individual gold in the 2013 Kazan (Russia) Universiade. The Philippines finished without a medal in the 2015 Gwangju (South Korea) edition.

FESSAP president David Ong said Balangui will lead the Filipino contingent during the closing ceremony of the 141-nation Universiade Wednesday. —ROY LUARCA