MANILA – Negrense boxer Rogen Ladon advanced to the finals of the 2018 Asian Games men’s flyweight category following a unanimous decision win over Thailand’s Tondee Yuttapong in the semifinals yesterday at the Jakarta International Expo in Indonesia.
The Bago City (Negros Occidental) native assured himself of at least a silver medal following a masterful performance against the rugged Yuttapong.
The scores were 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 all in favor of Ladon.
Ladon started strong in the first round. He unleashed right hooks and straights.
The Thai went down but was ruled as a slip. The Filipino responded with a short left and a clean 1-2-3 to close the round.
Ladon continued his aggression in the second round with solid hits that nearly dropped Yuttapong.
The Thai then resorted to dirty tactics. He took down Ladon and unleashed two punches while the latter was down.
Despite sustaining a cut on his eyelid, Ladon had a strong start in the third round with 1-2 combos.
Yuttapong tried to retaliate with his punches but Ladon evades as seconds went by.
Now already assured of at least a silver medal, the Rio de Janeiro Olympian Ladon will aim for the country’s fifth gold medal today when he battles Jasurbek Latipov of Uzbekistan.
Ladon’s teammate Carlo Paalam, meanwhile, settled for a bronze medal finish following a split decision defeat to Indian boxer Amit in the semifinals round of the men’s light flyweight semifinals.
Meanwhile, Kim Mangrobang struggled with the hot temperature and faded on the last lap of the run, finishing seventh in the women’s triathlon competitions at the Jakabaring Sport City Shooting Range.
Battling for third after the 40-km bike, Mangrobang struggled late in the race to submit a time of two hours, five minutes and 20 seconds. Filipino-American Kim Kilgroe, who managed to move to second at one point in the bike leg, placed ninth at 2:06.57.
“Masayang-masaya na rin po ako sa naging resulta ng laro ko. Nag-training kami ng mahirap para dito pareho ng mga kalaban. Lahat naghanda. Pakiramdam na lang kung sino ang mas maganda na lang sa araw ng laro,” said Mangrobang.
For her part, Kilgroe said, “Just being here is already an awesome experience for me. To be able to play for our country and get a good finish exceeded my expectations.”
In equestrian single finals, Mary Antonette Leviste finished the women’s event at 11th place despite no penalties, while Joker Arroyo ended up at 17th place in men’s event after committing two violations.
Jann Mari Nayre bows out in men’s table tennis following an 11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 4-11, 5-11 defeat to Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting, while Jason Balabal faltered in men’s kurash./PN
