Tempo Desk
By REY BANCOD
The Philippines settled for two bronze medals in taekwondo, lost in women’s volleyball and won two of three matches in tennis Sunday in the first day of full-blown competitions in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Filipinos sent two teams in the poomsae semifinals, but came up short against traditional powerhouses.
After two earlier victories, the men’s team of Dustin Jacob Mella, Jordan Dominguez and Rodolfo Reyes Jr. failed to scale the Great Wall, losing to Chinese Zhu Yuxiang, Hu Mingda and Deng Tingfeng.
The score: 8.180-7.830.
The Chinese, however, had to settle for the silver after losing to South Korea in the final.
South Korea dashed the country’s bid in the distaff side.
The trio of Juvenile Faye Crisostomo, Rinna Babanto and Janna Dominique Oliva could only muster 7.110 against Gwak Yeowon, Choi Dongah and Park Jaeeun who did 8.020.
Thailand, however, pulled off a big upset in the final, edging South Korea for its first gold in the Games.
“Hard luck. We lost in the semifinals, but we are very proud of the teams,” said national coach Igor Mella.
The other poomsae bets failed to get into the medal bout.
Rodolfo Reyes Jr. bowed to Suvittayatarak Pongporn of Thailand, 8.320-8.080, in the men’s individual quarterfinals.
In the distaff side, Jocel Lyn Ninobla was eliminated in the Round of 32 by Chao Tuyet Van of Vietnam.
The pair of bronze medals pushed the Filipinos in joint eight place with Vietnam in the provisional medal tally.
PH chief of mission Richard Gomez was happy with the outcome.
“I was hoping we will be at the finals based on what I saw this morning but have two bronzes today is a very good start for the national team,” said Gomez.
China, buoyed up by its success in swimming, assumed its familiar place on top with 6 golds, 3 silvers and 2 bronzes.
Japan took second spot with 2 golds, 5 silvers and 3 bronzes followed by South Korea with 2-2-4.
Indonesia, Chinese-Taipei and Thailand had a gold medal each.
Despite a strong start, the women’s volleyball team eventually folded against perennial Southeast Asian Games champion Thailand, 25-22, 25-12, 25-15, in its first Asiad appearance in 36 years.
A collection of stars from two rival leagues back home, the Nationals had the Thais on the ropes for most part of the first set until they lost grip of the match and allowed their rivals to escape.
Chatchu On Moksri was the biggest thorn in PH’s side with 15 points.
Alyssa Valdez and Jaja Santiago led the Filipinas with 7 and 6 points, respectively.
The spikers take a rest on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday against Japan.
Over in Palembang, 600 kilometers north of the capital city, Jeson Patrombon accounted for two victories in tennis.
Patrombon, 25, outclassed Fernandes Nazario of East Timor, 6-1, 6-0, and teamed up with Francis Alcantara to whip Sharan Divij and Tandi Kamran of Qatar, 6-4, 6-4, in men’s doubles.
AJ Lim and Marian Capadocia, however, bowed to Jabor Almutawa and Mubarak Zayid of India, 6-4, 6-4, in mixed doubles.
Also in Palembang, shooter Hagen Topacio found himself tied for third place, just one behind co-leaders Manavjit Sandhu Singh of India and Pakistan’s Aamer Iqbal after three round of the men’s individual trap.
Topacio, 28, struggled in the first round, shooting down 21 clay pigeons, but hit all 50 targets in the next two rounds for 71 points.
The top six shooters after five rounds will advance into the semifinals.
In wrestling, Alvin Lobreguito was manhandled by Shavkatov Makhmudjon of Uzbekistan, 11-2, in the quarterfinals of the 57-kilogram division.
At the pool, Roxanne Ashley Yu finished last in the women’s 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:21.25, slower than her qualifying time of 2:19.12.
Chinese Liu Yaxin won the event in 2:07.65, edging Japanese Natsumi Sakai who settled for silver.
Rodolfo Reyes Jr. bowed to Suvittayatarak Pongporn of Thailand, 8.320-8.080, in the quarterfinals.
In the distaff side, Jocel Lyn Ninobla was eliminated in the Round of 32 by Chao Tuyet Van of Vietnam.
In wushu, Agatha Wong opened her bid by placing fifth in the women’s taijiquan with a score of 9.68. She gets a chance to improve her standings in the women’s taijijian set Monday.
Divine Wally advanced into the quarterfinals of the women’s sanda -52-kg, division after overwhelming Mimi Yoysaykham, 2-0.
