JAKARTA – Meggie Ochoa added another bronze medal to the Philippines' tally on Friday while two pencak silat athletes assured themselves of podium finishes in Day Six of the 18th Asian Games.
Ochoa beat compatriot Kaila Napolis in the Newaza women’s -49kg division, giving the reigning Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games champion the bronze that hiked Team Philippines' tally to six to go with a lone gold.
Two more medals are guaranteed in pencak silat, where Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Dines Dumaan and Jefferson Rhey Loon overcame quarterfinal opponents to reach the semifinal stage.
Dumaan beat Boynao Singh Naorem of India, 5-0, in the men’s Class B 50 to 55 kg, while Loon won over Almazbek Zamirov of Kyrgyzstan, 4-0, in the men’s Class D 60 to 65 kg division. The pair see action in the semifinals on Saturday.
But beyond these, there are a lot near-misses for the Philippines in various fronts beginning with gymnastics, where hard-luck Caloy Yulo missed out on a podium finish after placing fourth in the men’s vault.
Elreen Ann Ando also placed fourth in the women’s 63kg in weightlifting while the women’s team of six of Liza del Rosario, Dyan Coronacion, Maria Lourdes Arles, Rachelle Leon, Marie Alexis Sy, Marian Lara Posadas placed fourth with a score of 7951 pinfalls in bowling - just 18 behind bronze medalist Chinese Taipei.
Gian Taylor Dee, Marc Alexander Lim, and Jan Vincent Cortez lost in their first match in ju-jitsuwhile the men’s team foil in fencing only got as far as the quarterfinals.
In boxing, Joel Bacho lost in his preliminary bout in the men’s welterweight division, bowing to Sajjad Kazemzadeh Poshtiri of Iran.
But there is hope in golf, where Weiwei Gao moved up to a tie for third after the second round with an 8-under-par 139 total, two shots behind Keita Nakajima of Japan in the men’s individual race.
Yuka Saso is in fifth place in the ladies division with a 4-under par 140, five shots behind leader Du Mohan of China.
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