Wushu ends PH wait for Asian Games medals

THE PHILIPPINES’ Divine Wally (right) competes against South Korea’s Kim Hye-bin. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

INCHEON, South Korea—The Philippines barged into the medal column—although not officially just yet—when Jean Claude Saclag and Francisco Solis completely dominated their foes in the quarterfinal round of the 17th Asian Games men’s wushu (sanda) on Monday night at Ganghwa Dolmens gymnasium here.

Saclag was in a class of his own right in the opening round against Indonesia’s Hendrik Tarigan, connecting on a left punch, a right uppercut and a kick to the head that bloodied his foe’s nose. Saclag controlled the second round on the way to a 2-0 victory in the -60 kg class.

Solis whipped Hong Kong’s Wang Ting, 2-0, scoring a key takedown in the first round to advance to the semifinal of the -56 kg class on Tuesday, where he will face China’s Zhao Fuxiang.

With their quarterfinal victories, Saclag and Solis are now assured of at least a bronze medal.

Victories over their semifinal foes will assure both fighters of at least a silver medal. Saclag’s opponent was still unknown at press time.

“He (Solis) is now raring to go to the semifinals, gusto na nyang lumaro agad,” said Wushu Federation of the Philippines secretary general Julian Camacho, who is also the country’s deputy chief of mission here.

“He wants more than the bronze.” Divine Wally lost her quarterfinal bout in women’s -52 kg sanda to Kim Hye-bin of host South Korea.

The victories of Saclag and Solis came as a breeze of optimism wafted into the Philippine delegation, with a couple of medal prospects opening their bids in different venues Tuesday.

And it soothed the pain of a controversial defeat in fencing. Bowling’s gold hunt The highly touted Gilas Pilipinas opens its campaign for a basketball gold medal when it engages India in a preliminary round match at 2 p.m. at Hwaseong Sports Complex Gymnasium.

The country’s bowling team, led by defending men’s singles Asian Games champion Biboy Rivera, also starts its hunt for the gold medal at Anyang Hogye Gymnasium.

“Realistically, we are gunning for one gold medal but we are hoping we could win more,” said Rivera. Ten golds are at stake in bowling, five each in the men’s and women’s divisions.

The other bowlers seeing action on Tuesday are Frederick Ong, Boshir Layoso, Asiad rookies Jo Mar Jumapao, Kenneth Chua and the ladies team led by veterans Liza del Rosario and Liza Clutario.

National coach Chot Reyes also made it clear that Gilas Pilipinas was also shooting to end a 52-year gold-medal drought for the Philippines.

“It will be disappointing if we don’t win the gold medal,” said Reyes. Fencer Nathaniel Perez suffered a painful defeat in men’s individual foil, where he dropped a questionable 15-11 decision to Almansoori Majed Sultan Ali of the United Arab Emirates.

“We could have earned that ticket to the quarterfinal round where we should have faced another strong entry whom Nathaniel had beaten in their previous outings,” said coach Benny Garcia, who believes Perez lost as many as seven points on decisions by Chinese referee Hu Hanxiong.

“But we lost many points and we are allowed to file complaints only twice, according to fencing rules.” Roll in preliminaries Perez was on a roll in the preliminaries, where he went 4-1.

The three-time UAAP MVP out of University of the East beat Fujino Daiki of Japan, 5-3; Yahya Hassan Hazari of Saudi Arabia, 5-2; Khalid Fahad Mishaab of Qatar, 5-3; and Abbas Faa Ali of Kuwait, 5-3.

His only loss in the preliminaries came at the hands of Ma Jianfei of China, 3-5. Another Filipino entry in foil, Wilfred Richard Curioso, also bowed out of the round of 16 after a clear 15-5 defeat at the hands of Chen Haiwei of China.

Meanwhile, the country’s rowing team also breathed a little hope into the country’s medal hunt when Edgar Ilas and Nestor Cordova rose from elimination to book a berth in the men’s lightweight double sculls finals on Wednesday by ruling the repechage with a time of 6:40.95 at Chungju Tangeum Lake Rowing Center.

Benjie Tolentino, however, missed his last shot at a medal when he placed fourth with a time of 7:25.87.

In swimming, Jasmine Alkhaldi timed 56.92 in the women’s 100-meter freestyle to finish third in her heat, but she missed the eight-swimmer final by two-tenths of a second after placing ninth overall among the entries.

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