By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES’ medal haul at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia is now up to four bronzes after Pauline Lopez threw in her share of hardware in the Women’s -57kg taekwondo event on Tuesday at the Jakarta Convention Center.
Losing, 11-4, to Luo Zongshi of China in the semifinals, Ms. Lopez saw her impressive run in the event come to an end and settle for bronze.
In the lead-up to semifinals, 22-year-old Lopez was on a fiery roll, taking down her opponent in solid fashion.
She first shut out Feng Xiao of Macau, China, 8-0, in the round of 16 before lording it over Chunara Gyani of Nepal, 20-0, in the quarterfinals to book her place in the semifinals.
Ms. Lopez kept the match close in the first two rounds against Ms. Luo but just could not keep in step with her opponent in the final round to slump to the loss.
The bronze from Ms. Lopez is the third medal from taekwondo after the Philippines’ poomsae men’s and women’s teams bagged a bronze each on Sunday.
Wushu’s Agatha Wong accounts for the other bronze medal of the country as of this writing.
As of 5 p.m. yesterday, China continues to lead in the medal standings with 20 gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals followed by Japan (8-12-12) and Korea (5-10-11).
Scheduled to see action later yesterday, meanwhile, was Olympic silver medallist Hidilyn Diaz, who was to compete in the 53kg event, while wushu artists Divine Wally and Jean Claude Saclag were to compete in the quarterfinals of their respective events.
PHILIPPINE BLU GIRLS
Meanwhile, the Philippine women’s softball team plunges into another double-header today at the Gelura Bung Karno diamond.
The Philippine Blu Girls will take on host team Indonesia at 1:30 p.m. (Manila time) before facing Chinese Taipei at 9 p.m.
The team is hoping to sustain its fine form to date in the Asiad where it won its first three games, beating Hong Kong, 8-0, Korea, 5-3, and China, 1-0, in that order.
It was set to face Japan late yesterday seeking to win four straight.
The Japan game was something the team was looking forward to as it tries to avenge the 7-0 loss it absorbed to the Japanese at the Asian Championship last December.
The Blu Girls try to go for a sweep of their remaining games in the classification phase to book a spot in the next round.
“We hope to continue winning to earn a spot in the next round,” said national coach Venerando Dizer said.
Tournament format will see the top four teams advancing to a page system semifinal to determine the protagonists for the gold medal. The losers will square off for the bronze.
