Cue artist Chezka Centeno and poomsae artists Dustin Mella and Rodelfo Reyes, Jr. will look to bag the Philippines’ third gold in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Thursday evening in Ashghabat, Tajikistan.
Chezka Centeno advances to gold medal round
Chezka Centeno moved to the gold-medal game following her 7-3 win over China’s Liu Shash in the semifinal of the women’s 9-Ball Pool Singles.
The 18-year-old Centeno won six of the first eight racks against the 24-year-old Liu in their Race-to-Seven encounter, before Liu took the ninth rack to cut Centeno’s lead to 6-3.
After a mistake by Liu on the 10th rack, Centeno did not waste the opportunity as she closed out the match for a spot in the final opposite China’s Han Yu. The match is being played at press time at the Billiards Sports Arena.
A native of Zamboanga City, Centeno will try to add the AIMAG title to her recent win, when she captured her second straight gold in the Southeast Asian Games Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Jins Dustin Mella and Rodolfo Reyes Jr. sustain momentum from SEA Games
Rodolfo Reyes, Jr. and Dustin Jacob Mella ranked 3 and 6 respectively in the Taekwondo Men’s Individual event in the semis and moves to the finals to be contested at 6:00pm, Manila time.
Bowler Kenneth Chua and Muay Thai fighter Philip Delarmino settle for silver
Bowler Kenneth Chua and Muay Thai bet Philipp Delarmino lost in the final of their respective events to settle for silver medals, but were cheered by the Philippine delegation headed by Chef de Mission Monsour del Rosario and Philippine Olympic Committee First vice president Joey Romasanta.
Chua fell to Thailand’s Annop Arromsaranon, 247-212, in the men’s singles final at the Bowling Arena, while Delarmino suffered 30-27 defeat to Thailand’s Chotichanin Kokkrachai in the -57kg men’s final at the Muay Thai Arena.
Cue Artist Carlo Biado and judoka Al Llamas earn bronze
The national team also earned bronze medals on Thursday from Carlo Biado in the men’s 9-Ball Pool Singles and Al Rolan Llamas in the men’s -60kg in Judo.
Biado lost to Taipei’s Chang Jung Lin, 9-2, in the semifinal, while the Llamas sustained a 10-0 defeat to Turkmenistan’s Erkin Omurzakow at the Martial Arts Arena.
Medal Tally
So far, Team Philippines has captured two gold medals as the Jiu Jitsu fighters Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa and Annie Ramirez ruled their respective events, while Rio Olympics veteran Hidilyn Diaz and Asian Champion Eric Cray settled for silver medals.
Also with silver medals are Jiu Jitsu’s Gian Taylor Dee, Marc Alexander Lim and Jenna Kaila Napolis, while bronze medal winners are Kristopher Robert Uy, Francis Aaron Agojo and Kristie Elaine Alora in Taekwondo; Alvin Lobreguito in Traditional Wrestling; and Jefferson Manatad in Belt Wrestling.
The victors are set to receive cash incentives of P2 million for the gold medal winners, P1 million for silver medalist, and P400,000 for bronze medalist from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
