Poomsae jins Rodolfo Reyes Jr. and Jocel Lyn Ninobla settled for silver medals with cue artist Chezka Centeno to sustain the medal streak of the Philippines going in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.
Centeno’s hasty shot on the fourth marble in the 10th frame was a costly mistake that China’s Han Yu exploited for a 7-4 victory in the women’s 9-ball finale.
Han launched a powerful break on the deciding set and finished off the 18-year-old Zamboanga City native with a combination of the third and ninth balls on the left corner pocket.
Delivering what seemed like a spotless routine, Reyes scored 8.310 points from the judges before Pongporn Suvittayarak of Thailand erased his lead with 8.550 points for the gold in men’s individual poomsae.
The 22-year-old from Dasmarinas City was proud of the silver, his best performance in international tournaments after bringing home bronze medals from the recent Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games and the 2016 world championships in Lima, Peru.
“It’s nice to have the gold but it wasn’t meant for me. I’m thankful for the opportunity to contribute a silver medal for our country,” said Reyes.
Jocel Lyn Ninobla also got the silver with 8.000 points after Marjan Salahshouri of Iran scored 8.120 points in the women’s individual poomsae finals.
The Philippines jacked up its medal collection of two gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze medals, which included the third-place performance of Kristel Macrohon in women’s weightlifting.
Macrohon combined a total lift of 209kg for the bronze behind gold medalist Assem Sadykova of Kazakhstan (222kg) and silver finisher Apolonia Vaivai of Fiji (221kg).
Chef de mission Monsour Del Rosario was happy on the turnout where Filipino athletes kept on delivering medals everyday since the Games began last week.
It shadowed some of the few setbacks for the day after Anna Patrimonio and Khim Iglupas failed to advance in the semifinals of women’s tennis doubles.
Ankita Raina and Prarthan Thombare of India defeated pushed the Filipina netters to the exits with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at the Tennis Center.
In bowling, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia eliminated Maria Liza Del Rosario, 204-194, in their quarterfinal showdown.
