MANILA – Eumir Felix Marcial was dealt with a controversial unanimous decision defeat by China’s Tanglatihan Tuohetaerbieke in the 19th Asian Games men’s 80-kilogram gold medal match last night at the Hangzhou Gymnasium in China.
Marcial had a dominant opening round. He forced Tuohetaerbieke to a standing eight count.
The Filipino fighter, however, became careless in the second round. He allowed the hometown bet to pummel him with punches for a 29-all score.
Marcial regained his aggression in the third round. He unloaded numerous power punches compared to the limited attacks of Tuohetaerbieke, but the judges strangely awarded the victory and the gold medal to the Chinese boxer.
The 27-year-old Marcial might have settled for a silver medal finish but he is already assured of a slot in the 2024 Paris Olympics along with pole vauler Ernest John Obiena and gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan.
Earlier in the day, Filipina Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa delivered the country’s second gold medal after ruling the women’s -48-kilogram category of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the XSL Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
The 33-year-old Ochoa, who settled for bronze medal in the previous Asiad five years ago in Indonesia, prevailed over Balqees Abdullah of United Arab Emirates in the gold medal match.
Meanwhile, Sakura Alforte of karate contributed a bronze medal for the Philippine delegation after defeating Chinese Taipei’s Hui Hsuan Chien in the women’s individual kata category.
Ilonggo Joyme Sequita, Umajesty Williams, Michael del Prado and Frederick Ramirez fell short of a medal finish but tallied a national record in the men’s 4×400-meter relay with their 3:04.89 clocking in the finals.
First runner Williams had the best performance from the group with 43.21 seconds, followed by final runner Del Prado, son of athletic legend Isidro, with a 45.79. Sequita ran 47.02, while Ramirez had the weakest showing of 48.87 as the second runner.
Meanwhile, the women’s 4×400 Philippine team of Fil-heritage athletes Lauren Hoffman, Robyn Brown, Angel Frank and Maureen Maureen Schrijvers also finished 5th in the finals with a clocking of 3:40.78./PN
