Dancers, Amit pile up silvers for PH delegation; Bowlers shoot for gold

ASHGABAT—Comfortable in each other’s arms, dance instructors German Enriquez and Maria Danella Renee Publico racked up a career breakthrough in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

The Filipino dancing duo delivered a silver medal in the Viennese waltz event of dancesport even as cue master Rubilen Amit also settled for the same medal after her defeat in the finals of women’s 10-ball singles.

Bowlers Maria Liza Del Rosario, Marie Alexis Sy, Marian Lara Posadas and Krizziah Lyn Tabora likewise assured themselves of a silver in the women’s team of four, moving up to the gold-medal match set on Wednesday.

Also known back home as the dancing policeman, Enriquez’s partnership with Publico got a total of 30 points for the highest finish of their careers so far since pairing off seven years ago.

Takeshi Yamamoto and Tomomi Yamamoto of Japan pocketed the gold with 32.291 points while the tandem of Macau’s Tam Ka Pan and Vong Weng Lam posted 28.167 for the bronze.

“We’re very passionate at what we do and it played a crucial role for us to accomplish our goal,” said the 27-year-old Publico, an economics degree holder from Ateneo de Manila.

“For seven years, we’ve won in several contests but not as big as this one,” added Enriquez, who hails from Zamboanga City.

The women’s bowling quartet scored 780 pinfalls and tore down China’s wall composed of Zhang Chunli, Peng Rui, Yang Liyan and Zhang Yuhong, who wound up with a combined output of 737 points.

Del Rosario, Sy, Posadas and Tabora will next meet Kim Moonjeong, Hong Hae Ni, Baek Seungja and Jung Dawun of South Korea in the gold-medal match.

Over at Chess Arena, International Masters Paulo Bersamina and Jan Emmanuel Garcia subdued host Turkmenistan’s Maksat Atabayev and Yusup Atabayev in the semifinals of men’s rapid under-23.

Bersamina and Garcia progressed to the finals opposite Wei Yu and Xu Yinglun of China and are guaranteed at least a silver medal.

China’s Chen Siming, a former 10-ball world champion like Amit, trailed in the third frame before taking full control in the succeeding sets for a 7-5 triumph over the Filipino in the gold-medal finale.

The Philippines now has two gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals and could still bring home more in dancesport, bowling, chess and possibly in sambo after Robin Catalan advanced to the semifinals on the final day of competitions.