THE Philippine Sambo Wrestling team led by Rene Catalan took home 11 medals at the Southeast Asian Sambo Wrestling Championships on April 11 to 12 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Catalan – a native of Iloilo City who was also a ONE Championship fighter – snatched one of their five gold medals when he ruled the -57kg category.
He then helped two other fighters from the Catalan Fighting System group, Roque Mana-ay and Patrick Manicad, get golds in 62kg and 74kg, respectively.
“This was a good preparation for future competitions and helped them improve their skills,” said Catalan, a 2006 Asian Games wushu champion. “This tournament was not easy since we fought tough opponents.”
Also capturing golds for the Philippines were Carl John de Tomas (68kg) and Reydemptor Nacionales (-62kg).
Jefferson Salcedo (-68kg) took home silver. Those who won bronze were Jomary Torres (-48kg), Czar Bayas (-74kg), Mae Bayad (-60kg), and Roni Marielle Santiago (-52kg).
“I am hoping that the Filipino sambo fighters will be given a chance to compete in the Asian Games this August,” said Philippine Sambo Wrestling secretary-general Paolo Tancontian./PN
