with reports from Samantha de la Costa and Danny Uychoco
SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA — Atos Philippines/Jiujitsu Manila’s Carlo Peña became the first-ever jiu jitsu gold medalist in the Southeast Asian Games, Monday at the Laus Group Events Centre.
The 38-year-old jiujitero dominated in his two bouts in the under-56kg division, capped by a masterful 17-2 rout of Indonesia’s Richard Rengga in the finals.
Peña, who trains at the Empower Training Center in Pasig, easily had his way on the mat, transitioning from numerous positions of control.
In the semis, he dominated Singapore’s Jack Xuan An Tran with a 14-0 shutout.
Early this year, Peña placed this in the JJAU Asian Championship held in Ulaanbaatar, Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Gian Dee took bronze in the under-62kg weight class.
Peña’s training partner Meggie Ochoa is in the finals of the women’s under-45 category.
