HANGZHOU – Some of the country’s top bets see action right away Sunday as competitions in the 19th Asian Games goes full swing.
PH Asian Games bid in full swing
The highly touted nine-man boxing team will have its two Olympians in Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno at the forefront of the Filipinos’ campaign a day following the opening ceremony of the biggest Asiad.
Joining the two boxers are highly touted Fil-Canadian swimmer Kayla Sanchez, wushu’s Agatha Wong, and Shugen Nakano of judo.
The 27-year-old Marcial, bronze medal winner in the Tokyo Olympics who also boxes professionally, goes up in weight at 80 kg and faces Dalai Ganzorig of Mongolia, while Magno, who reached the Round-of-16 of last year’s Olympiad, takes on Nigina Uktamova of Uzbekistan.
Sanchez on the other hand, makes her debut for the national team as she sees action in her pet event, the 4x100 meter freestyle along with fellow Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi, Tiea Isabella Salvino, and Miranda Renner.
The 22-year-old charming swimmer won two Olympic medals in Tokyo last year, namely the 4x100 meter freestyle and the 4x100 medley while still representing Canada.
Wong, on the other hand, will be back in the women’s taijiquan/taijijan (sword play) event of wushu at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre. The freshman student of medicine at the UERM Memorial Medical Center won a bronze in the same category during the Palembang, Jakarta Asiad five years ago.
Nakano also sees action in judo in the men’s 66 kg class against Saoud Almamiri of Kuwait.
Taekwondo, which bagged three bronze medals in the 2018, Asiad, also kicks off its campaign and so do artistic gymnastics, chess, esports, fencing, and skateboarding.
Sports like rowing and beach volleyball, meanwhile, resume their respective campaigns in a bid to reach a podium finish.
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