Albania, Martinez enter gold medal match in AIG

HANOI – Bantamweight Annie Albania kept her fiery form even as teammate Josie Gabuco and bowler Biboy Rivera secured for the Philippines two bronze medals in the 3rd Asian Indoor Games Monday. The 27-year old Albania survived the wild shots thrown at her by the much taller Choto Loura for a 6-0 victory in the women’s semifinals match at the Bah Nihn gymnasium. The South Cotabato lady pug showed her counter punching ability, which proved to be the effective weapon against Loura as her opponent kept herself open whenever she punches. After a scoreless first round, Albania connected with a right straight giving her the first point of the match. Loura tried to be aggressive in the third but that proved costly as Albania scored five more points to seal the win. A veteran that she is, Albania danced away most of the time in the last round to assure herself of at least a silver medal in the tournament. “We banked on good defense, clear punches and timing. It was a hard win because the judges failed to score punches by Annie from close range but we're happy with the results," said coach Glicerio Catolico. Albania will go for the gold against Thailand's Sopida Satumrum, who scored a 14-0 win over Hang Le Thi Ngan of Vietnam, in the other semis bout The fight is set Wednesday afternoon as all boxers take a rest on Tuesday. “This will be the first time we will meet Satumrum but I'm confident we can win against her," added Catolico who is ably assisted by Roel Velasco. Later in the night, Mitchel Martinez joined Albania in the finals as she won over home bet Vui Nguyen Thi, 13-9, in the light welterweight division. Gabuco absorbed a 7-3 defeat at the hands of four-time world champion ML Mary Kom of India to settle for the bronze. It was the second bronze medal for the Philippines after Rivera handed the country the same medal in the men's singles bowling, which is being played at the Saigon Superbowl in Ho Chi Minh City Sunday night. Rivera, the 2006 World Masters champion amassed 1,386 points in the six-game elimination series to finish fourth among 73 bowlers from 20 countries. Rivera defeated Japan's Yoshinao Masatoki, 205-194, to advance into the semifinals where he met defending champion Naif Obaq Al-Abadla of United Arab Emirates (UAE) who took a 219-194 win ending his campaign. Al-Abadla, who finished eighth in the elimination round and defeated top seed Chul Jang Dong of Korea in the quarterfinals (279-183), went on to retain the title he won in 2007 in Macau with a 222-219 victory over Korean sixth seed Choi Bok Eum in the finals. “Our target was to make it to the quarterfinals and Biboy kept his focus and took one frame at a time so as not to waste any frame," said coach Jojo Canare. The women's team, however, were not lucky as they failed to hand a medal in the women's singles disputed Monday. Liza del Rosario made it past the elimination with 1,219 pin fall to finished fifth overall in the field of 49 bowlers. But Del Rosario, who is set to represent the country in the 45th World Cup slated at Melaka International Bowling Center in Malaysia from November 13 to 20, lost steam and bowed to Indonesia's Tannya Roumimper (195-179) in the quarterfinals. “Medyo minalas tayo sa women's but we'll try to bounce back in the other events," added Canare. The country is also assured of another bronze in the 52kg sanshou event as only three fighters are seeing action including our very one Rhea May Rifani. Jennifer Lagilag is the other Filipino entry in the said event. “I have talked with Jennifer and Rhea and they are both eagerly waiting to see action. They are in top conditions and will do their best for flag and country," said wushu secretary-general and Chief of Mission Julian Camacho. Muay action, being held at Ho Chi Minh, started Monday but the country's bets Harold Gregorio, Zaide Lauran and Maricel Subang drew opening byes. China and host Vietnam are lock in a fight for the lead with the former winning 12 gold aside from seven silver and four bronze medals as against the hosts 11-7-9 haul. South Korea is at third with 4-5-4 followed by Kazakhstan with 4-3-6 and Thailand with 4-1-7. With only two bronze medals so far, the Philippines is at 22nd. – GMANews.TV