MANAMA, Bahrain – The Ratcliff siblings set their sights on history for Team Philippines in the 3rd Asian Youth Games, as they gun for a double gold in mixed martial arts Saturday in Hall 1 of the Exhibition World Bahrain here.
Travis Ratcliff advanced to the finals of the men’s 60kg class after Osimi Begmuodzoda of Taijikistan failed to make the weight cut in Friday’s semifinal bout.
His younger sister Charlie, 15, later followed suit by dominating Anelya Tsoy of Kazakhstan by unanimous decision to make the gold medal round of the girls’ 45kg event.
Travis and Charlie will try to become the first brother-sister tandem to win golds for the Philippine in the history of the AYG.
A graduating 12-grade student at the Colegio De Santo Tomas-Recoletos in Negros Occidental, Travis will take on Amirmohammad Hatamianafshari of Iran in gold medal play, while Charlie faces Nakanantaphorn Khaihung in their own final.
Alexander Tagure Jr. couldn’t make it three-for-three for MMA, as he lost his semifinal match in the boys 50kg event by submission against Uzbekistan’s Avaz Anvarov.
Tagure thus settled for the bronze to hike the country’s medal tally to 1-1-3 after five days of competition, tying Chinese Taipei for ninth to 10th place.
Muay also put the Filipinos in contention for a possible gold after emerging with the best score in the boys’ mai muay with 9.07 total that earned them one of four spots in Sunday’s final.
Team Philippines' performance
The Philippine contingent suffered misfortunes as well, however.
The taekwondo team didn’t reach the podium, as Juan Victorio Yamat and Felicity Jana Castel lost out in their respective quarterfinal bouts, while Raphael Valentin Gaupo and Mary Heart Capulong were stuck in the round of 16 in Day 2 of competitions in Hall 2.
Over at Hall 9, medal bet Leo Mhar Lobrido and Shairylle Pores won their respective opening bouts, although Ermalie Caballero lost a close fight in the preliminaries of the girls’ 50kg.
Lobrido won via 5-0 against Salte Alhadidi of Jordan in the boys 46 kg, while Pores rallied back to turn the tide against Rukhshonabonu Ahaduva of Uzbekistan, 3-2, in the distaff side of the same weight.
But Caballero absorbed a 3-2 split decision against Chinese Xinying Cui.
In cycling, Joelian Abdul Hamid, CJ Cabreros, Carl Laurence Espinosa, Marie Louisse Crisselle Alejado, Maritanya Krog, and Yvaine Osias finished last out of 10 entries in the team mixed relay over at the NBH Loop.
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