MANILA – The Philippine grappling team had a strong showing in the 2023 United World Wrestling United World Grappling Asian Championships recently at the Beeline Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The Filipino grapplers took home a total of 11 medals—four golds, five silvers and two bronze medals—to finish third overall among Asian countries who participated in the tournament.
Fierre Afan spearheaded the medal haul with two golds in the Under-20 71-kilogram no gi junior category and in 71-kilogram gi class and two silver medals in the senior 71-kilogram class.
The 19-year-old Afan dominated all his opponents in the U-20 71-kg no gi junior class, including an upset over Kazakhstan world champion Artem Khvan, before also sweeping the 71-kg gi class.
Maria Aisa Ratcliff also delivered for the country with two gold medals in the women’s seniors 53-kilogram no gi and gi class, where she pulled off a close 6-5 win over Kazakhstan’s Alina Kaskinova in the finals.
Lukie Aguilar, meanwhile, clinched two silver medals in the no gi and gi boys’ U-17 competitions, while his brother Lucho Aguilar had a silver in no gi and a bronze medal in gi U-15 division.
Also delivering medals for the Philippine delegation are Vince Ortiz and Michael Tabamo, who bagged a bronze each in the senior men’s gi 62 kg and men’s grappling 62 kg, respectively.
Wrestling Association of the Philippines (WAP) President Alvin Aguilar has expressed gratitude to his fighters for giving their best and making history, especially to Afan for beating a world champion in Khvan.
“Fierre beat a world champion in his first fight. It’s a great performance of our athletes. We’re very happy with the results, but we will not be taking a break and will still be training in preparation for the upcoming World Championships,” Aguilar said.
“I believe the performance of our athletes in that tournament will inspire more athletes to continue their training to be at a world class level, not only that but to win gold every time they compete,” he added./PN
