Francisco Solis fights through injury from Day One to clinch bronze medal in Asian Games wushu

INCHEON, South Korea — Francisco Solis managed to fight through injury from the first round to the medal stages. Unfortunately, the pain became unbearable before the semifinals and he had to abandon his bid for silver.

The 23-year-old Solis had to default his semifinal match and settle for bronze in the wushu competitions of the Asian Games due to a broken rib.

He revealed that he sustained the injury in the first match against a Pakistani foe in the men’s -56kg sanda.

“Nag-crack ’yung ribs ko,” Solis told Spin.ph on Thursday. “Pag-wrestling ko sa kanya, parang nabigla. Nadagdagan ’yung sakit.”

The pain was already becoming severe but Solis said he continued to fight, confident that he can pull off the win over the Hong Kong fighter. But he could not continue after that.

“Tinapos ko na lang ’yung Hong Kong kasi kayang-kaya ko ’yun,”

“’Yung default ko, hindi ko na talaga kaya kasi masakit. Kahit magsalita ako, masakit,” said Solis, adding that recovery may take three weeks.

It was a big accomplishment for Solis, who bagged bronze in the 2013 Southeast Asian Games.