MANILA – Aklanon Mary Francine Padios made her presence felt in the 8th Women’s Martial Arts (WMA) Festival. She captured a gold medal in pencak silat on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Kalibo, Aklan native became the first-ever gold medal winner in the tournament organized by the Philippine Sports Commission after topping the pencak silat’s Seni Tunggal singles category with her 9.587 points.
The victory was also a welcome sight for the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games gold medal winner after settling for a bronze medal in the same event during the Pencak Silat World Championships in Malacca, Malaysia earlier this year.
The 19-year-old Padios admitted after her gold medal win that she was not supposed to compete in the tournament before changing her mind at the last minute after dreaming of her late father.
“Hindi po sana ako maglalaro ngayon pero napanaginipan ko po ang papa ko at parang pinapaalalahan po ako sa responsibilidad ko ngayon, hindi lang sa bansa dahil ako na din ngayon ang tumatayong padre de pamilya,” said a teary-eyed Padios.
Padios’ fellow Aklanon Cherry Mae Regalado, who is fighting out of Phil. Speed Warriors-Aklan, settled for the silver with 9.246 points and Lorraine Verde of Isat U KBD got the bronze with 8.897 points.
Over at the judo training center inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, jiu-jitsu grappler Shanta Loise Carlos topped the under 54kg of the sport after beating Gliza Bea Jacinto while Erica Barros placed third.
Mariella Rafael, meanwhile, claimed a pair of golds in the over 54kg and absolute category after defeating Joanne Bognadon in the latter and toppling Ashley Baluyot in the absolute.
In karate, Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain joined hands with Baby Angel Lamorte and Christina Colonia to secure the gold in the team kata.
Other combat sports featured in the six-day event were taekwondo, sambo, wrestling, muay thai, kickboxing, karate, kurash and demonstration sports arnis and judo./PN
