All 4 PH muay fighters reach medal round

PHUKET, Thailand—Filipino muay fighters hope to further boost the country’s stock going into the homestretch of the 4th Asian Beach Games here.

Officials expect no less than two golds from the four-man muay team made up of bantamweight Philip Delarmino, flyweight Manuel Delos Reyes, Alvin Berto (60 kg) and Joel Zaspa (75 kg) after they advanced to the semifinals of the full-contact discipline.

“We’re looking to win at least two gold medals,” said coach Roland Claro. “If we’re lucky, we could win all of them.”

Delarmino, silver medalist in the Burma (Myanmar) Southeast Asian Games last year, delivered a roundhouse to the head of Afghanis-tan’s Sayed Aslamudin Amanullah for a knockout win with a minute and 11 seconds left in the second round of their men’s 54 kg contest. He will next take on Iraq’s Ahmed Salam Murad.

Delos Reyes marched into the medal round after ousting Aidil Che Omar, 5-0, in the quarterfinals of the 51 kg category. He next battles Thai Arnon Phonkrathok in the semifinals.

Zaspa, who advanced against Iran’s Hossein Karami, beat India’s Kamlesh Dewangan on points Thursday night while Berto, 28, won over China’s Zhang Fang, 3-2, to arrange a meeting with Sart Kalmakov of Kyrgyzstan.

Meanwhile, triathletes Marion Kim Mangrobang and John Chicano showed promise in beach modern pentathlon, placing fifth and sixth, respectively out of 16 participants despite being first-timers in the sport.

Mangrobang, who finished 10th in women’s triathlon three days ago, clocked 22 minutes and one second in the 10-meter shoot, 50m swim and 800m run event held at Nai Yang Beach. Chicano clocked 20:22 in the Olympic sport after settling for 27th place in men’s triathlon.

With two days left before the closing rites, the Philippines was 13th overall with three gold, one silver and four bronze medals.