Give And Go
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
TEAM Philippines has been having it rough in the ongoing 18th Asian Games in Indonesia but thanks to our women athletes we Filipinos get to celebrate here and there.
As of this writing, the Philippines has a total medal haul of 15 hardware in the latest edition of the quadrennial continental sporting meet happening in Jakarta and Palembang.
Of the 15 medals, three are gold and the rest bronzes. Majority of the haul were care off Filipino women athletes, including the three gold medals.
The first Filipinas to deliver for the Philippines was the women’s taekwondo poomsae team of Juvenile Faye Crisostomo, Rinna Babanto, and Janna Dominique Oliva which won bronze on Aug. 19.
It was followed by wushu’s Agatha Wong in the women’s taijiquan and taijijian all-around event and taekwondo jin Pauline Lopez in the -57kg event on Aug. 20 and 21, respectively, to keep the Philippines with medals to show for in the first three days of the Asian Games.
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz then broke through to get the country’s first gold medal later on Aug. 21, coming from behind to snatch the top spot in the women’s 53 kg weightlifting event.
Her efforts were followed up on by wushu’s Divine Wally, who chalked up a bronze in the -52kg sanda event on Aug. 22 that effectively avoided the Philippines from being finishing the day sans a medal.
Jiu-jitsu’s Meggie Ochoa won bronze in the women’s 49kg event on Aug. 24, unfortunately over compatriot Jenna Kaila Napolis.
On Aug. 26, the Philippine women’s golf team helped made it the best day for the Philippines in the ongoing Asian Games to date, running away with the top individual and team honors.
Filipino-Japanese golfer Yuka Saso made an impressive Games debut by winning gold in the women’s competition with teammate Bianca Pagdanganan getting the bronze.
Saso and Pagdanganan’s podium finishes towed the Philippine golfing team, which also included Louis Kay Go, to bag the team gold medal.
Providing the most recent bronze medals for the Philippines were Cherry Mae Regalado in pencak silat and Junna Tsukii in karate on Monday.
Considering how our female athletes are doing in the ongoing Games, local sports officials are well-advised to continue exploring and tapping the potential of our gallant women in sports.
The sporting world has been a cutthroat one of late, to say the least, but seemingly Filipino women athletes have been holding their own which I believe bodes well for Philippine sports in general as we have more talent to harness and hone.
And the good thing about it all is that Filipino women are not only excelling in so-called traditional sports but in other emerging sports and/or events as well.
Good job, ladies. May you continue making the country proud.
Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat.
msmurillo@bworldonline.com
