MEDALISTS of Team Philippines at the 19th Asian Games returned to Manila on Sunday.
Meggie Ochoa and Annie Ramirez, who won two out of the four gold medals of Team Philippines in ju-jitsu, arrived following a layover in Hong Kong on the day the Asian Games formally closed in Hangzhou, China.
READ: Historic Gilas gold, Obiena record sweeten Philippines' 17th-place finish
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino along with silver medalist Eumir Marcial and bronze medalists Kaila Napolis of jujitsu, Patrick Coo of BMX, and the sepak takraw team were with the delegation that headed straight to Milky Way Café in Makati for dinner and a press conference.
Gilas Pilipinas arrived in a separate flight early Sunday morning, while pole vault gold medalist EJ Obiena was already in Manila just days after his event.
The only medalist left in Hangzhou was bronze winner Sakura Alforte of karate, who carried the Philippine flag during the closing ceremony.
Tolentino once again hailed the performance of Team Philippines that resulted in a 17th place finish after a four-gold, two-silver, 12-bronze output.
“As foreseen and predicted and delivered, four golds,” said Tolentino. “Sinabi ko two months ago na minimum of four. Bonus na ‘yun kapag lumagpas ng four. Five nga sana ‘yun kung hindi tayo na-rob ni Eumir.”
Tolentino was of course referring to Marcial’s loss to China’s Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan in the final of the men’s 80kg division.
Tolentino, though, said there is a lot to celebrate from the Philippine campaign including surpassing the 19th-place finish in 2018 in Indonesia. The 17th-place finish was the country's best since ending up at 14th in 1994 in Hiroshima.
The POC president also took pride in the contingent overtaking Southeast Asian neighbor Singapore by one gold despite the latter's enormous funds for sports.
“Thank God for this blessing of 4-2-12,” said Tolentino.
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