Wushu artist Jones Inso gives PH second bronze in Asian Games

Jones Inso’s effort pays off with an Asian Games bronze medal. (FILE PHOTO)

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 (Asiad) where one medal bet suffered an unexpected loss in the pool but vowed to bounce back.

The 26-year-old veteran taolu specialist Inso 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 the time as a national athlete 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.

Kayla not worried

The day ended not in the way the Philippine delegation here anticipated after Kayla Sanchez checked in sixth in the women’s 50-meter backstroke finals late in the night at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena.

But the 22-year-old, who took Philippine citizenship earlier in the year, isn’t losing hope. She is actually confident of grabbing grab a medal in the pool over the next couple of days after clocking 28.66 seconds in the event where she was penciled as a solid gold hope.

“I’m not going to give up. I’ll just keep on pushing forward. This is a good starting point, and for me it’s all about the flag,’’ said Sanchez, who spearheaded the country’s 4x100m freestyle relay’s national record-breaking feat the other night.

Chinese tankers Wang Xueer (27.35 seconds) and Wan Letian (27.41) finished 1-2 that boosted the host country’s total to 36 gold medals after just six days. Japanese Miki Takahashi took the bronze in 28.21.

South Korea is a far second in the medal count as of 8:30 p.m. Monday with nine. The Chinese also have 19 silver and nine bronze medals in an overpowering show of force.

Teia Salvino, who likewise qualified to the finals with Sanchez, touched the wall last among the eight swimmers in 28.79.

Up next for Sanchez, who helped the Canadian relay team claim a silver and bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, is the 100-m free on Tuesday and the 50-m free on Wednesday as well as the 4x100m medley relay. She’s also entered in the 100-m back.

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

Missing out on a medal in the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) 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.

After executing his routine ahead of the rest in the taijiquan, the pride of La Trinidad, Benguet, was the second performer on the mat in the sword act of taijijian with only Gao, Hui and Chinese Taipei’s Sun Chia Hung surpassing his performance. INQ