MANILA – Chezka Centeno suffered a stinging 6-7 loss to China’s Yu Han to take the silver medal in the women’s 10-ball event on Wednesday night at the Civil Aviation Flight University of China – Tianfu Campus Gymnasium in Chengdu, China.
Centeno crawled back from 0-3 deficit and was actually one rack away from claiming the gold, but a crucial scratch on a safety play for the first ball spelled doom and gave Han the opening she took advantage of in the deciding frame.
Smiling despite the defeat, the Zamboanga City native was still grateful for the experience in her second World Games appearance.
“I did not expect that mistake. But I’m still happy,” Centeno said in a post-game interview. “This medal is for our country. I hope I still made you all proud.”
Centeno became the second silver medalist for Team Philippines after Kaila Napolis won the same color in women’s 52kg ju-jitsu and on top of Negrense Carlos Baylon Jr.’s bronze in wushu sanda 56kg class.
Before the finals, the Filipina ace prevailed Mayte Ropero of Spain in the quarterfinals and hometown bet Shasha Lui in the semis.
In the preliminaries, Centeno dominated Savannah Easton of the US before yielding to Han in her second match.
The Zamboanga City pride was supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, headed by President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, and the Philippine Sports Commission in her campaign in World Games./PN
