JERRY Olsim saved the day for Philippine Kickboxing by taking home the first gold medal for the country in the sport in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games on Monday at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Olsim beat Klinming Sarayut of Thailand, 3-0 (20-11, 16-8, 19-6) in their -69 kg match, dominating in all of the judges’ scorecards to give the country a raucous start in the championship rounds.
That win somewhat mitigated the losses of his compatriots in the championship round as Renalyn Dacquel dropped a close 3-0 (3-3, 5-5, 4-3) loss to Nguyen Thi Hang Nga of Vietnam while Jomar Balangui was bested by Pham Ba Hoi, 2-1 (13-5, 5-7, 7-6), with both athletes setting for silver.
Still, the Bokod, Benguet native remains ecstatic especially since it’s his first time to don the national team colors in any sport.
“Hindi ko malaman kung anong nararamdaman ngayon, pero sobrang saya ko talaga. Alam ko magagaling ang Thailand sa striking, sobrang saya ko na natalo natin ang Thai sa striking,” Olsim said.
Olsim, who competes in the ONE Championship banner for ONE Warrior Series, set the mood early as he worked on his opponents legs before letting his hands go to keep the Thai on his heels.
It was those golden hands which proved to be the difference as he sent well-timed counters - peppering the Thai with straights and hooks all-night long.
“Sa tingin ko naging advantage natin ay yung boxing natin dahil magagaling yung mga Filipino sa boxing,” Olsim continued.
His compatriots weren’t so lucky - particularly Dacquel who was literally a few seconds away from stealing the match away from Nguyen.
Dacquel took contrtol of the match in the second round when her Vietnamese foe received a deduction for holding but the visiting Nguyen would not be denied.
Coming out real aggressive in the third round, Nguyen connected some solid ones to pull ahead with seconds remaining in the match.
Head coach Mark Sangiao’s pleas for Dacquel to come forward late fell on deaf ears as Nguyen ran away with the win.
Balangui, on the other hand, was a different case.
Balangui got dropped in the second round with a thunderous right hook but that only lit a fire in him - turning the match into a virtual brawl in the third period.
While he was able to convince one judge to score the bout to his favor, he was way behind in the other judges’ scorecards to take the win.
The country still has two shots at a gold medal in kickboxcing as Olsim’s teammates in the famed Team Lakay take centerstage.
Gina Iniong and Jean Claude Saclag looks to add to the gold medal haul of the country when they battle different foes on Tuesday in the same venue.
Saclag also assured the team of a silver medal finish after beating Vietnam’s Nguyen The Huong, 3-0 (13-5, 10-6, 7-4).
Saclag scored the lone knockdown of the match, putting Nguyen on the canvass with a well-timed front kick much to the delight of the partisan crowd in attendance.
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