Poomsae bets, Centeno settle for silvers

ASHGABAT—Poomsae specialists Rodolfo Reyes Jr. and Jocel Lyn Ninobla joined cue artist Chezka Centeno in adding to the Philippines’ medal count Saturday in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games here.

Centeno buckled after taking an early lead and lost to Han Yu of China, 7-4, in the finals of women’s 9-ball.

A miscalculated shot on the fourth ball in the 10th set proved costly for Centeno, which Han readily pounced on.

Reyes earned 8.310 points with a flawless routine and finished behind Pongporn Suvittayarak of Thailand, whose 8.550 points was good for gold in the men’s individual poomsae.

“This is really special for me even though I didn’t win the gold,” said the 22-year-old Reyes, an education major from University of Santo Tomas.

It was his best finish in the international scene following a pair of bronze medals in the 2016 world championships in Peru and the recent Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Ninobla followed Reyes on the podium with a silver performance (8.000 points) in women’s individual poomsae, which was ruled by Iran’s Marjan Salahshouri (8.120).

Kristel Macrohon’s bronze medal in women’s weightlifting raised the Philippine medal tally to two gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze medals halfway through the 62-nation sportsfest.