MANILA – Ilonggo sambo fighter Rene Catalan settled for a silver medal finish in the sambo event of the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Angeles University Foundation Gym in Pampanga.
The Iloilo City native played with a hurting ankle in the championship match of the 57kg men’s combat sambo event against Indonesian Fajar Fajar and suffered a lopsided 11-3 defeat.
Catalan, however, did not sustain the injury against Fajar but against his semifinals opponent Chatchai Ritthidecha of Thailand, who injured the Ilonggo’s ankle with an illegal move.
“My ankle and knee popped. What he did was illegal. If I didn’t tell the referee what was happening, he wouldn’t have noticed it,” rued the 40-year-old Catalan.
He added: “My movements were limited, my balance was different and my game plan in the semifinals changed. I wanted to just cruise in the semifinals to save my energy for the gold medal match. I just didn’t expect I’d get injured,” he added.
The Philippines’ sambo team finished its SEA Games campaign with two golds courtesy of Mark Striegl and Chino Sy along with two bronzes from Patrick Paul Manicad and Nin Mondejar./PN
