By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The sepak takraw quadrant

team prevented a medal-less day for Team Philippines as they clinched a bronze medal in the 19th Asian Games at the JSG Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on Tuesday, October 3.

The squad of Jason Huerte, Mark Joseph Gonzales, Rheyjey Ortouste, Ronsited Gabayeron, Jom Lerry Rafael, and Vince Alyson Torno settled for a bronze medal finish after bowing to reigning gold medal winner Indonesia in the semifinals, 2-1.

It was a remarkable victory for the Philippine Sepak Takraw Federation Inc. (PSTFI), as it was the country’s first-ever Asian Games medal in the sport since it was first included in 1990.

“Thirty-three years in the making. Since Sepak Takraw was included in the Asian Games in 1990, team PHL has never won a single Asian Games medal, not until today,” PSTFI president Karen Tanchanco-Caballero said in a social media post.

Prior to their semifinals defeat, the sepak takraw team scored victories over Japan (2-1), South Korea (2-1) and Singapore (2-0) before tasting their lone preliminary round loss to India (2-0).

Meanwhile, Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam fell short of a podium finish in the men’s 57-kilogram category after bowing to Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.

Abdumalik, a gold medal winner in the 2023 IBA World Boxing Championships, outclassed Paalam in every round en route to a unanimous decision verdict to reach the semifinals round.

The 25-year-old Paalam, a silver medal winner in the men’s 54kg category in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has opted to move up to the 57kg division ahead of the Asian Games.

In the athletics event, Lauren Hoffman and Robyn Lauren Brown settled for fifth and sixth place finishes, respectively, in the gold medal round of the women’s 400-meter hurdles event.

For his part, Ronnie Malipay also missed a podium finish in the men’s triple jump event finals after ending up in 10th place at 15.24 meters./ASC, WDJ