MANILA – Carlos Baylon Jr. capped the Philippines’ wushu campaign at the 2025 World Games with a bronze medal on Tuesday night, overpowering Kazakhstan’s Islam Karimov in dominant fashion at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Centre Gymnasium in Chengdu, China.
The La Carlota City, Negros Occidental native came out aggressive, dictating the pace with relentless takedowns and clean strikes that left Karimov struggling to mount a counterattack.
“I am just happy to win this bronze medal,” said Baylon, who added the podium finish to the gold medal he captured at the IWUF 10th Sanda World Cup in Jiangyin, China last April. “I hope I can win more tournaments and give pride to our country.”
Earlier, teammate Krizan Faith Collado narrowly missed a medal after falling to Vietnam’s Thi Phuong Nga Ngo in another bronze-medal bout, settling for fourth place.
Baylon’s victory sealed the wushu squad’s stint in Chengdu, with Team Philippines’ tally now at one silver and one bronze, with five competition days left.
In kickboxing, Hergie Bacyadan kept the country’s medal hopes alive by cruising past Hungary’s Valentina Keri, 3-0, in the women’s K1 70-kg quarterfinals at the Sichuan Gymnasium. The Kalinga fighter overcame a tight first round before using her reach and power to control the remainder of the bout, setting up a semifinal clash with Portugal’s Catarina Dias.
“I will do my best and study my opponent,” Bacyadan said of Dias, a 2024 Paris Olympics Round of 16 finisher who advanced after outpointing Brazil’s Carolina Sousa Santos, 3-0./PN
