Boxers keep PHL gold hopes alive in Asiad

GUANGZHOU, China — Boxers Rey Saludar and Annie Albania advanced to the gold medal round of their respective divisions to provide some good news to offset the losses in other fronts as the 16th Asian Games enter its last three days of competition. A third boxer could have entered the finals but Victorio Saludar, Rey’s younger brother, suffered a 1-12 defeat in his semifinal match against Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov in the 46-49kg division. He, however, gave the Philippines its ninth bronze medal. Rey Saludar and Albania both dominated their Japanese foes. The older Saludar executed combinations accurately to score a 13-4 win over Katsuaki Susa in the 52kg division. He will next face Yoing Chang of China in a bid to give the country its third gold medal. Albania waltzed to a 16-1 decision against Aya Shinmoto in the 48-51kg division to arrange a finals date with China’s Cancan Ren. The men’s chess team – composed of Wesley So, Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio and John Paul Gomez — blasted Uzbekistan, 3.5-0.5, and will face Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals. But other Filipino athletes were not that lucky, as one by one they were overpowered by their more experienced opponents. Delfin Adriano and Mark Javier absorbed 2-4 and 0-4 losses against Takaharu Furukawa of Japan and Chinese Taipei’s Chia Chun Sung in archery’s recurve elimination round. The Philippine Smart-Gilas men’s basketball team also ended their bid for a medal with a 66-74 quarterfinal loss to South Korea. Other Filipino athletes that ended their Asian Games stint were Jimmy Angana (wrestling); Mae Soriano and Noel Espinosa (karatedo); Sheila Mae Perez, Nino Carog at Zardo Domenios (diving); Engelberto Rivera, Marianne Posadas and Liza Del Rosario (bowling) at Henry Dagmil (long jump). Angana lost to Turkmenistan’s Seyitnur Atayev, 1-3, in the 66kg division, while Soriano bowed to Korean So Young Jang, 2-4, in the quarterfinals. Soriano had earlier scored a 3-2 win over Macau’s Man I Kou. Also in karatedo, Noel Espinosa posted a 4-1 win over Hong Neng Wong of Macau in the repechage, but failed to bag a bronze after a 0-5 loss to Kuwait’s Yousef Jhas Alharbi. - JVP/KY, GMANews.TV