MANILA – Ilonggo wushu athlete Arnel Mandal will have a shot at delivering the country’s first gold medal in the 19th Asian Games after reaching the finals of the men’s -56 kilogram category.
A native of Barangay Calaparan, Arevalo, Iloilo City, Mandal reached the finals after scoring a 2-0 victory over Avazbek Amanbekov of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals last night at the XSG Sports Center in Hangzhou, China.
The 28-year-old Mandal, however, is expected to have a tough time in the championship round. He faces hometown bet Haidong Jiang, who prevailed over Vietnam’s Doan Van Hua of Vietnam.
Gideon Fred Padua, meanwhile, settled for a bronze medal finish in the men’s 60kg category. He decided to forfeit his scheduled semifinal game against Iran’s Shoja Panahigelehkolaei due to an injury.
Wushu Federation Philippines, in a statement, said they decided not to allow Padua to fight last night to minimize the risk of further injuring his nose, which he suffered in the quarterfinals against Turkmenistan’s Agajumageldi Yazymov on Tuesday night.
Clemente Tabugaran Jr., on the other hand, also ended with a bronze medal after bowing to Indonesia’s Samuel Marbun in the semifinals round of the men’s -65 kilogram category, 2-0.
Filipina tennis sensation Alex Eala also assured herself of a medal finish after a come-from-behind 0-6, 7-5, 6-0 win over Japan’s Kyoka Okamura in the women’s singles quarterfinals round.
Eala, a four-time ITF women’s singles winner with three Southeast Asian Games bronze medals, will next face Chinese top seed Qinwen Zheng, who defeated South Korea’s Sohyun Park, 7-6, 6-0.
Filipina skateboarder Margielyn Didal, meanwhile, failed to repeat in the women’s skateboarding street event on Wednesday morning at the QT Roller Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China.
The Cebuana skateboarder was hobbled by an ankle injury. She managed just 23.39 combined points in the runs and tricks category, good for eighth and last place in the finals.
Didal stumbled in the early part of her first run and was unable to finish her stunt to settle for 23.39 points. She failed to redeem herself on her second run, where she fell twice for a 12.83 score.
Didal, the 2018 Asian Games gold medal winner, stumbled anew on her three attempts at the trick before opting to discontinue her last two attempts after aggravating her ankle injury./PN
