EJ OBIENA finally broke the gold-medal drought of the Philippines on Tuesday, bringing the country’s output to three at the 20th Asian Games.
Obiena broke his own Asiad record when he cleared 5.91 meters on his way to the gold medal, the only one for Day 10 and coming four days since gymnast Carlos Yulo won a pair in floor exercise and the vault in artistic gymnastics.
READ Alex Eala, Shaira Rivera easily hurdle opening Asiad doubles match
Obiena shattered his old mark by 0.01 to put the icing on his cake on an otherwise bleak day which saw the women’s double team in sepak takraw and middle-distace runner Victoria Bossong come up short of the gold.
Nelly Jay Salon, Jean Marie Sucalit, and Abegail Sinogbuhan settled for a silver medal after losing to Vietnam, 15-8, 15-4 - still the best finish of the Philippines since sepak takraw was introduced in the Asiad in 1990.
Bossong finished with a bronze medal in the women’s 800m when she clocked 2:05.34, with Wu Hongjiao of China taking the gold with a time of 2:04.49, and Nelly Korir of Bahrain capturing the silver with 2:05.16.
Jayuard Alciso also copped a bronze on Tuesday when he beat Toby Espejon in surfing's men’s shortboard competitions.
Overall, the Philippines moved up one notch to 16th place in the medal tally with a 3-3-12 gold-silver-bronze medal count.
Wednesday could be another lean day for the Philippines as far as medals is concerned, but that could change in the later days.
Carlo Paalam will fight 2025 world champion Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan in the men’s 55kg semifinal while Alex Eala will also be in action in the women’s singles against Joanna Garland in the quarterfinal round.
SIBOL will also take the spotlight on Wednesday in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in the quarterfinals, and possibly, the semifinals.
China remains in front with 143 gold medals, followed by Japan (44), South Korea (24), Uzbekistan (14), and Thailand (12).
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
