HANGZHOU – The 19th Asian Games could well go down as one of the most memorable campaigns of Team Philippines in the history of the quadrennial showcase.
While the four golds won at the conclusion of the meet that was postponed for a year equaled the output by the country in 2018 in Palembang, Indonesia, this year’s campaign was made extra special by EJ Obiena establishing a new meet record in pole vault and Gilas Pilipinas ending a 61-year-old gold drought in men’s basketball.
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Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino declared the performance of the 395-man strong Filipino athletes as "very, very good."
“Better than all our previous Asian Games (bid) because of our victory in basketball,” he said before departing for Manila.
“We are very happy with our performance.”
Five years ago, an all-ladies cast delivered four Asiad golds for the country, namely Hidilyn Diaz (weightlifting), Margielyn Didal (skateboarding), Yuka Saso (individual golf), and Bianca Pagdanganan, Lois Kaye Go, and Saso (team golf).
This time, a pair of ladies in jiu-jitsu fighters Meggie Ochoa (48 kg) and Annie Ramirez (57 kg), accounted for half of the total golds won by the Philippines.
There’s also Obiena establishing a new Asiad record of 5.90 meters in topping the pole vault.
“We had four golds, an Asian Games record from Obiena, and two from jiu-jitsu, replacing the two that we lost in women’s golf,” Tolentino pointed out.
“That’s another accomplishment,” added the POC chief. “Let’s look at the final placing and not the number of medals.”
With four golds, two silvers, and 12 bronzes, the country finished at 17th place in Hangzhou, while its four golds, two silvers, and 15 bronzes in 2018 landed it at No. 19 in Palembang.
The cherry on the top of this campaign was Gilas Pilipinas reclaiming the basketball gold since a team backstopped by Caloy Loyzaga last won the men’s championship in 1962.
“We won the gold in basketball after 61 years,” said Tolentino. “And Eumir (Marcial) won the silver, but earned a slot to the Paris Olympics.”
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