OJAY Fuentes tabbed the lone gold medal for the Philippine junior canoe kayak team in the 2014 Singapore Invitational Canoe Sprint Junior Cup.
The 16-year-old Fuentes also won one of the two silver medals copped by the Filipinos in the meet featuring five Southeast Asian countries and Hong Kong.
Fuentes clocked 46.54 seconds in the 200m canoe single to beat a Thailand bet for the gold. He later settled for the silver in the 500m canoe single event.
Reymart Nevado accounted for the country’s other silver medal after a runner-up finish in the 1,000m canoe single event with a time of four minutes, 44.95 seconds, just a shade behind the gold medal winner from Thailand (4:44.71).
Fuentes and Nevado were the only Filipino bets to see action in the event.
Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation president Jonne Go said Fuentes has a bright future ahead.
“Matagal tagal pa natin siya magagamit as junior athlete. We are moving for him to qualify for the 2020 Olympics,” said Go.
The PCKF official said Fuentes and Nevado are also eyeing a spot in the Junior Dragon Boat World Championship in Poland.