MANILA, Philippines — Kaila Napolis settled for the silver medal after bowing to South Korea’s Eon Ju Im in the women’s ju-jitsu -52-kilogram ne-waza finals on Sunday at the Jianyang Cultural and Sports Centre Gymnasium in Chengdu, China.
From a 2-2 deadlock in the dying seconds, Napolis tried to throw the Korean out of the mat to score and secure the victory.
But Im was just on a better spot when the clock expired, mounting on top of the Filipina grappler for a positional advantage worthy of the deciding point.
Despite the defeat, Napolis, gave the country something to celebrate for bagging the first medal for the Philippine team here in Chengdu after three days of competition.
Napolis and the rest of the national team is supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee under the leadership of President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and the Philippine Sports Commission.
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“I am little disappointed I did not get the crucial point. But I am still grateful I was able to represent the country here,” Napolis said.
Meanwhile, Annie Ramirez, who was shouting instructions prominently from the spectators row to give her teammate a lift, dropped two of her bouts to bid goodbye in the women’s -57kg class.
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She, however, could bounce back in open ne-waza category.
At the Sancha Lake Taohuadao Arena, Raph Trinidad came tantalizingly close to bagging the bronze in the cable men’s wakeboard event, with only a late mistake in the final stunt denying his goal.
Cheered by his peers and even the Chinese crowd — with Trinidad being a big figure in the extreme water sport — the Filipino athlete had a fantastic stretch in the second run before a misread of his approach on the aerial trick proved costly to his medal ambition.
Trinidad finished fourth with 56.60 points. Frenchman Loic Deschaux topped the competition with a solid performance of 95.00 points, while Germans Max Milde (92.80) and Florian Weiherer (65.00) got the silver and bronze, respectively.
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In billiards, Chezka Centeno carried the fight in women’s 10-ball after Savannah Easton of the USA, 7-2. She faces hometown bet Yu Han Monday at 9 a.m.
Southeast Asian Games champion Rubilen Amit was unlucky in the preliminaries and bowed to Pia Filler of Germany, 4-7. She battles another Chinese, Shasha Liu, at 3:30 p.m.
Krizan Faith Collado defeated Elisabetta Sirto of Italy, 2-0, women’s wushu sanda -52kg event at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Centre Gymnasium. TMT
