THE Philippines celebrated the silvers of veteran archer Amaya Paz-Cojuangco and teenage poomsae artist Juliana Mykhail Candelaria in Day 12 of the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
But at the same time, there was also a tad of sadness on Thursday after Filipina tennis superstar Alex Eala lost in her semifinal campaign in the women’s singles.
The 40-year-old Paz-Cojuangco turned back the hands of time after placing second in the women’s individual compound in a 139-137 loss to Nurisa Dian Ashrifah of Indonesia.
Meantime, the 18-year-old Candelaria gave a glimpse of what the future holds for taekwondo, taking the silver medal in women’s individual poomsae, losing only to Jung Haeun of Korea, the country where the sport traces its roots.
Eala, however, ended her Asiad campaign prematurely, losing to Wang Xiyu of China, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals, settling for a bronze for the second straight time.
Eala's bronze medal was notched on the medal table alongside that of Jeus Gabriel Derick Yape, who finished third in men’s individual poomsae.
Kimberly Anne Custodio, another gold medal hopeful by virtue of her world title in the 45kg division, was defeated in her first bout in the 48kg class against Balqees Abdulla of United Arab Emirates.
The Philippines went down to 18th place in the medal standings with a 3-5-14 gold-silver-bronze tally with a few more days left in the quadrennial meet.
The gold medal hopes on Friday now rests on the shoulders of boxer Carlo Paalam and jiu-jitsu fighter and Hangzhou Asiad titlist Annie Ramirez.
Paalam takes on hometown bet Rui Yamaguchi for the men’s 55kg gold in the final day of boxing competitions. The bout is the fourth in the afternoon session starting 1 p.m., Nagoya time (12 noon, Philippine time).
Ramirez begins her quest in her second Asiad, this time in the lighter 52kg division after topping the 57kg class in Hangzhou. She hopes to end the day with gold, as well.
Padel is gunning for an outright medal, as Danna Abad and Joshua Malazarte play Indonesia’s Fadona Kusumawati and Fitriani Sabatini in the women’s pairs.
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