Asian Games: Jones Inso wins wushu bronze for PH’s second medal

Wushu – 2018 Asian Games – Men’s Taijijian – JIExpo Kemayoran Hall B – Jakarta, Indonesia – August 22, 2018. Jones Llabres Inso of the Philippines competes. REUTERS/Issei Kato

HANGZHOU, China—Jones Inso got a share of the limelight in wushu men’s taijiquan-taijijian all-around on Monday, generating another bronze medal for the Philippines in the 19th Asian Games.

The 26-year-old veteran taolu specialist clinched the podium spot behind China’s Gao Haonan and Hong Kong’s Hui Tak Yan with a combined effort of 9.746 points in the taijiquan event and 9.470 in the taijijian discipline.

“I put in the effort during my training. I even reviewed my past performances and today I got a bronze,” said Inso, who juggles time with his education as a mechanical engineering major.

Inso’s bronze was the second for the country in these Games after taekwondo jin Patrick King Perez managed to secure third place in the men’s individual poomsae on Sunday.

He made it count this time after landing 14th overall in the 2018 Jakarta edition.

Gao claimed the gold with a combined score of 19.666 while Hui got the silver with a 19.494 total at the Xiaoushan Guali Sports Centre here.

Missing out on a medal in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, Inso bounced back big on a much larger stage, his second-place finish in the barehand taijiquan event hinting of great things to come.

The pride of La Trinidad, Benguet was the second performer on the mat in the swordplay act of taijijian with only Gao, Hui and Chinese Taipei’s Sun Chia Hung surpassing his performance.

“Performing ahead of the rest has become a challenge. You have to watch all of your other opponents after your turn, so I got really nervous,” said Inso, whose two next international assignments are the World Combat Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 20-30 and the World Wushu Championships in Fort Worth, Texas from Nov. 16-20.

Agatha Wong was the nation’s female entry in the event, but the 2018 Asian Games bronze medalist fell short, ranking fourth place overall on Sunday.