MANILA – Ilonggo wushu bet Arnel Mandal handed the country its first 19th Asian Games silver medal after falling short in the men’s -56 kilogram finals on Thursday at the XSG Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China.
Mandal, a native of Barangay Calaparan in Arevalo, Iloilo City, was defeated by homecourt bet Haidong Jiang via WPD or winner by point difference in their championship game.
Mandal reached the gold medal round following his 2-0 victory over Avazbek Amanbekov of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals on Wednesday evening.
It was Team Philippines’ third wushu medal following the bronze medal finishes of Gideon Fred Padua in the men’s 60 kg category and Clemente Tabugara in men’s -65 kg class.
Alex Eala, on the other hand, also ended up with a bronze medal in the women’s singles tennis event after bowing to China’s Qinwen Zheng in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3.
As of Thursday afternoon, Team Philippines now has six medals–a silver medal and five bronze medals.
In boxing, Bacolodnon Riza Pasuit failed to advance to the quarterfinals round of the women’s 57-60 kilogram category after being beaten by Thailand’s Thananya Somnuek.
Filipino John Nobel Marvin, meanwhile, moved on to the quarterfinals round of the men’s -92 kilogram after scoring a second round stoppage win over Rabin Nepal of Nepal.
Meanwhile, the Gilas Pilipinas 3×3 team cruised to their third straight victory after scoring a 21-15 beating of Hong Kong at the Deqing Geographic Information Park Basketball Court.
Both teams were knotted a 4-4 apiece before the Gilas Pilipinas 3×3 rode on the hot hands of Janrey Pasaol and John Bismarck Lina to create the much-needed separation from Hong Kong.
Pasaol and Lina top-scored with seven points apiece, while Justine Sanchez and Ilonggo John Bryan Sajonia had four and three, respectively, for Gilas Pilipinas 3×3, which can clinch an outright quarterfinals seat when they beat Mongolia on Friday.
Meanwhile, favored Filipino taekwondo athletes Kirstie Elaine Alora and Samuel Morrison suffered shock exits in their respective round-of-16 matches on Thursday morning.
Alora failed to move past the quarterfinals round after a 7-2 loss to Anahita Tavakoli of Iran in the women’s +67 kg, while Morrison bowed to Arian Salimi of Iran, 15-9, in the men’s +80 kg category./PN
