Albania enters Asiad boxing medal round

GUANGZHOU —Hardworking Annie Albania took the full measure of Korea's Kim Song Hye with her busy fists for a 7-2 decision in the 48-51 kgs division and took her place in the semifinal round of the debuting women’s boxing event in the 16th Asian Games. Down 0-2 in the third round, Albania connected with two body shots against her taller opponent to get even at the end of the round, and then clustered punches to the head to break away in the fourth. Albania’s victory, along with three pivotal wins in team events Sunday, could be the final-stretch motivation for other Filipino athletes who will figure in six sports late Monday. With six days to go and an output of two gold, two silver and eight bronze medals that place PHL right in the middle of a list of 32 nations with medals, Albania’s teammates Victorio Saludar (46-49 kgs) and Wilfredo Lopez (69 kgs) also enter the ring as quarterfinalists. Saludar should be slightly favored over India’s Amandeep Singh, and so would Lopez against Mongolia’s Jargal Otgonjargal. “I sincerely hope that we can get something going in boxing because we did not get the much-needed breaks in taekwondo," said Chef de Mission Joey Romasanta, his fingers crossed that RP would better a 4-6-9 collection in Qatar four years ago. Basketball, softball and chess boosted the delegation's hopes with exciting victories. The PHL’s men’s basketball squad dumped India, 78-57, and faces Chinese Taipei Monday, eyeing a victory that will formalize its entry to the quarterfinals. After two losses to giants China and Chinese Taipei, the Blu Girls vented their ire on Thailand in a 1-0 win that kept hopes of a medal finish alive, although they have to hurdle powerhouse Japan tonight. In chess, John Paul Gomez scored the only win that went with draws from Wesley So, Joey Antonio and Eugene Torre in the Philippines’ 2.5-1.5 edging of highly-rated Kazakhstan. The win raised the chess team’s chances of making the semifinal round as it takes on an even stronger quartet from India tonight. Bowling and athletics, however, failed to produce for the lean Philippine team, which has yet to start its campaign in karate. PHL’s men team of five in bowling managed to place only 12th among 17 competitors in block 1, which was dominated by Malaysia, Qatar and Japan, while the women’s team placed eighth of 11 behind winner Korea . Another Filipino team of five will see action Monday in block 2. Unheralded Alex Generalao and Danny Funelas both wound up last in the heats of the 1000-m sprints of canoe/kayak — an Olympic sport struggling for popularity in the Philippines . The two Pinoy athletes will try their luck next in the heats of the 200-m run. Irish Valenzuela (4:15:08.25) beat 10 other entries when he placed 24th in the individual road race of cycling, among them compatriot Lloyd Lucien Reynante (4:15:14.09), who was two ranks lower in the nine laps of the 20 kilometers event. Divers Jaime Asok and Rexel Ryan Fabriga will make their bids in the men’s synchronized 10-m platform contest starting at 5 p.m. Monday. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV