KAYLA Sanchez came very close to ending the Philippines' 28-year medal drought in Asian Games swimming on Tuesday.
The three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist placed fourth in the women’s 100-meter freestyle with a time of 53.65 seconds, only 0.18 seconds behind bronze medalist Yujie Cheng of China (53.47).
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Sanchez nearly secured an Asiad medal that a Filipino swimmer last won in 1998 when Ryan Papa won a bronze medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke in Bangkok.
The 25-year-old Sanchez was on pace for a medal after recording the second best time in the morning heats with a clocking of 54.22.
In the final, the Filipina swimmer was running third at the 50m turn but was overtaken in a close finish. Hong Kong’s Siobhan Bernadette Haughey won the gold with a time of 52.45 seconds, followed by China’s Yu Yiting with a clocking of 53.21.
Sanchez’s coach Derrick Schoof admitted the disappointment after the race.
“Kayla put it all on the table,” said Schoof in a pool report. “She went for it. And she had a really very solid performance. It was tough.”
“We knew it was going to be a tough battle between the two Chinese girls that she was racing, and she just came out on the wrong side of the touch.”
So far, Sanchez has broken Philippine records in this Asian Games, timing 28.19 seconds in the 50m backstroke, and 28.24 seconds in the 50m backstroke.
Sanchez is scheduled to compete in two more events - the women’s 100m backstroke on Wednesday and the 50m freestyle on Thursday.
Schoof, nonetheless, expressed optimism about Sanchez’s chances of winning a medal in her next two events.
“Of course, we're disappointed that we didn't get the medal right there. But there are still more chances to come, and I think in a couple of days Kayla's going to put up a really good 50 freestyle.”
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