Asian Games: Three PH sanda fighters secure at least bronze in wushu

FILE–PH wushu artist Gideon Padua. –WUSHU-SANDA TEAM PHILIPPINES PAGE

HANGZHOU, China—The Philippine wushu team is assured of three bronzes at the 19th Asian Games with sanda fighters Arnel Mandal (men’s 56kg), Gideon Fred Padua (men’s 60kg) and Clemente Tabugara (men’s 65kg) figuring in the semifinals.

Wushu officials, however, are skeptical about allowing Padua to face Iran’s Shoja Panahigelehkolaei in the semis.

Padua got hit by an elbow and suffered a broken nose bridge in an impressive quarterfinal win over Turkmenistan’s Agajumageldi Yazymov.

Meanwhile, Johnzenth Gajo didn’t catch much of the judges’ attention and wound up empty-handed in the finals of the men’s daoshu and gunshu all-around in wushu .

The 21-year-old Gajo finished sixth in the daoshu discipline with 9.680 points, but plunged deeper into standings after settling for a ninth-best 9.403 points in the gunshu among 11 finalists.

China’s Chang Zhizhao topped the event with combined scores of 9.826 and 9.800 while Singapore’s Jowen Si Wei Lim took the silver (9.736 and 9.743). Indonesia’s Seraf Siregar placed third (9.733 and 9.740).

Gajo, a bronze medalist in the men’s duilian during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, failed to join Jones Inso, who secured the bronze for the national taolu aces in the men’s individual taijiquan-taijijian all-around.