JEAN Claude Saclag capped off the 2019 Southeast Asian Games kickboxing tournament on a golden note last Tuesday at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Saclag was head and shoulders abover Mahmoud Bin Mohamed of Malaysia, to get a 3-0 (9-3, 11-2, 10-5) win in the U63.5 kg division.
Saclag came to fight early on, throwing bombs at Mohamed which unsettled him early.
It was not much of a contest from thereon as Saclag kept moving forward allowing the Malaysian little space to operate.
"Malakas ang kalaban namin. Professional din yan, Talagang pinaghandaan namin na mas mabilis sa kanya so doon kami nag-focus," Saclag said referring to Mahmoud who also competes in ONE Championship.
As the final bell sounded, Saclag was visibly overjoyed - jumping around and even running towards the crowd in celebration.
"Sa daming sinalihan ko na competition ito ata ang pinakamasaya kasi kasama ko kababayan ko. Di ko ineexpect na ganun kadali, pero nanalo ako dahil sa paghihirap ko rin."
The win was the country's third gold medal after his Team Lakay stablemates in Jerry Olsim and Gina Iniong bagged the same feat in earlier matches.
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