-Sepak takraw and esports added two more bronzes to Team Philippines’ haul, Olympic medalist Carlo Paalam was left as the lone hopeful in boxing and Alex Eala did what she does best in the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games on Monday.
Filipino-American Victoria Bossong made a strong case as gold medal threat at the rain-drenched Paloma Mizuho Stadium track-she topped the women’s 800 meters heats in two minutes and 2.34 seconds, surpassing by almost four seconds the Philippine record set by fellow national Naomi Cesar only last June at the Portland Track Festival in Oregon. Jason Huerte and Jom Lerry Rafael gave Malaysia’s Mohd Rosdi and Abd Razak a scare but couldn’t keep up in a 15-10, 11-15, 7-15 semifinal loss in men’s Regu to settle for a bronze medal in sepak takraw.
A gold medal, however, could be added to that sepak takraw bronze if team captain Abegail Sinogbuhan, Jean Marie Sucalit and substitute Nelly Jay Salon beat Vietnam in the final Tuesday of women’s doubles.
Sinogbuhan and company advance to the final at the expense of Laos, 15-12, 15-10, on Monday with a victory counting as the third gold medal for the Philippines after gymnast Carlos Yulo’s in vault and floor exercise for Team Philippines.
Sibol-composed of Kim Rey Salazar, Michael Vaughn Ocio, Lance David and head coach Albert Camp-clinched the Honor of Kings bronze medal after losing to powerhouse China, 0-2, in the semifinals on Monday at the Aichi-Sky Expo Hall.
Eala? Her debut at the Hogashiyama Park Tennis Center mirrored her flight in this city that is hosting the games for the first time.
The world No. 18 had two flight delays on Sunday-she was supposed to arrive at noon but landed at 7 p.m. instead-and on Monday, her singles match against Thailand’s Patcharin Cheapchandrej had to be transferred indoor because of rain.
The court change didn’t matter at all for the global tennis sensation as she made mincemeat of Cheapchandrej, 6-1, 6-0, in a match that looked like a mere workout lasting only 55 minutes.
‘I’m happy with how I performed today, under difficult conditions,’ said Eala, adding she’s gotten better than she was three years ago as a 17-year-old athlete at the Hangzhou 2023 games where she bagged a bronze medal.
‘Seventeen to 21 are quite formative years for me, especially as I account what I’ve been through in those four years. A lot of experience professionally and a lot of growing,’ she added.
The center court seats 3,000 but the hosts added another 501 seats in anticipation for the ‘Eala Mania’ in Nagoya, but unfortunately for her fans who wanted to watch on Monday, they could no longer get ticket refunds.
Paalam, meanwhile, kept the Philippines’ gold medal hopes alive in boxing after punching a ticket to the men’s 55-kg semifinals after scoring a hard-fought split decision (3-2) win over China’s Zhang Jiamao at the Nishio Gymnasium.
‘I was prepared for the games and I followed to the letter all the plans we had in training,’ Paalam said. ‘It was a tough fight and I’m happy I gave a victory for our country.’
The 28-year-old Paalam landed cleaner and his counterpunches hit their mark against Zhang, who rallied in vain in the final round by aggressively attacking the Filipino.
Paalam’s fellow silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Nesthy Petecio, however, fell out of the medals race in her third Asian Games since Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou.
Petecio was teary-eyed after absorbing a unanimous decision loss to China’s Yang Chengyu in the women’s 60-kg quarterfinals.
‘I’m sorry, if the country wanted me to win, how much more me? This Asian Games gold medal is the only medal that I have yet to win,’ she said.
On Tuesday, attention will be on reigning men’s pole vault champion and record holder EJ Obiena and Bossong who are expected to add gold medals to the Team Philippines campaign in the athletics finals on Tuesday.
Obiena is again a favorite with his personal best 6.0 meters and season best 5.91m.
‘I feel good for the season for being consistent at 5.80-meter. I hope the weather is nice so I can jump high. I am ready,’ Obiena said.
He was dominating in Hangzhou at 5.90 meters but this time around, he’ll be hounded by rising stars of Asia-23-year-old Li Chenyang of China and 21-year-old Seifeldin Abdelsalam of Qatar.
Li’s personal best is 5.86m while Abdelsalam has cleared 5.90m.
The Philippines has a 2-2-10 gold-silver-bronze haul and needs two gold medals to match its haul in Hangzhou, while China is relentless at the top of the medal tally with 129 gold medals, Japan a far second with 41 and South Korea with 21.