THE 20th Asian Games gave Filipino sports fans something to look forward to in the future following the worthy performances of the youth and junior athletes in the competition.
Here are some of them:
TACHIANA MANGIN (TAEKWONDO)
The 18-year-old Mangin has been collecting medals over the years, including a gold at the 2024 World Juniors Championship, a first for the Philippines in years. Her silver in the 20th Asian Games has been added to her medal case, and it was well-earned. On her way to the final, Mangin showed tremendous composure in all her bouts, needing all three rounds to advance including a late kick to the head in her semifinal against Japan’s Ruka Okamoto that got her into the gold-medal bout.
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ALBERT IAN DELOS SANTOS (WEIGHTLIFTING)
Delos Santos is living up to the billing as the heir apparent of Hidilyn Diaz as the face of Philippine weightlifting. In only his first Asian Games, the 20-year-old Delos Santos captured a bronze in the men’s 70kg division in record fashion, with his lifts in the clean and jerk of 183 and total of 324 registering as new world juniors records.
PRINCE AGUSTIN (TEQBALL)
Teqball, a sport that combines the elements of table tennis, volleyball, sepak takraw, and football, may soon be a source of a medal for the Philippines after 14-year-old Agustin fell one win short of a bronze in the men’s singles. This is the closest teqball has come to a medal in a multisport competition. Agustin could finally win one in the future.
JASMINE RAMILO (GYMNASTICS)
Ramilo may not have reached the final of the individual all-around but the 18-year-old placed 13th in the competition where she was one of the youngest. With more training, Ramilo could be in line for more medals in the future after a bronze in the Asian Junior Championships in 2023, and the Southeast Asian Games in 2025.
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MAZEL PARIS ALEGADO (SKATEBOARDING)
Before the Asian Games, the 12-year-old Alegado already had a Southeast Asian Games gold medal in her resume in the women’s park skateboarding event. In the final, Alegado, ranked No. 23 in the world, finished fifth as the second youngest competitor in the event won by world No. 1 Mizuho Hasegawa, a 15-year-old Japanese skateboarder.
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JULIANA CANDELARIA (TAEKWONDO)
At 18 years old, Candelaria is already an Asian Games silver medalist after placing second in the women’s individual poomsae. To the taekwondo community, Candelaria’s medal was no longer a surprise as just last May, she picked up a bronze medal in the Asian Taekwondo Championships.
ELDREW YULO (GYMNASTICS)
Two-time Olympic champion Carlos Yulo didn’t win a medal in his maiden Asian Games in 2018 in Jakarta. His younger brother did this year in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The 18-year-old Eldrew also stood out for the Philippine delegation after capturing a bronze medal in the parallel bars of men’s artistic gymnastics. Eldrew also made it to the final of the floor exercise where Caloy won gold, an auspicious sign of things to come for Philippine gymnastics.
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