Chezka Centeno and Carlos Baylon Jr. delivered podium finishes for Team Philippines in the 2025 World Games, adding a silver and bronze medal to the country’s tally.
Centeno settled for silver in the women’s 10-ball event on Wednesday at the Civil Aviation Flight University of China – Tianfu Campus Gymnasium after a 6-7 loss to China’s Yu Han on Wednesday.
The Zamboanga City native mounted a gutsy comeback from a 0-3 deficit and came within one rack of the gold medal.
But a costly scratch on a safety play for the opening ball in the decider gave Han the opening she needed to seal the win.
“I did not expect that mistake. But I’m still happy,” Centeno said with a smile despite the defeat. “This medal is for our country. I hope I still made you all proud.”
This marks Centeno’s second medal in as many World Games appearances.
Before the finals, she ousted Spain’s Mayte Ropero in the quarterfinals and hometown favorite Shasha Lui in the semis, after sweeping her opening match against the USA’s Savannah Easton and falling to Han in the preliminaries.
(C) POC Media Group
Baylon, meanwhile, powered his way to bronze in men’s wushu sanda 56kg after an inspired performance in front of a raucous crowd on Tuesday at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Centre Gymnasium.
The reigning IWUF 10th Sanda World Cup champion dominated Kazakhstan’s Islam Karimov, 2-0, with a relentless mix of takedowns and sharp striking.
“I am just happy to win this bronze medal,” Baylon said. “I hope I can win more tournaments and give pride to our country.”
His win served as a bright finale to the wushu team’s campaign, which saw Krizan Faith Collado narrowly miss the podium after falling to Vietnam’s Thi Phuong Nga Ngo in her own bronze-medal match.
With Centeno’s silver and Baylon’s bronze joining Kaila Napolis’ earlier silver in women’s 52kg ju-jitsu, Team Philippines now boasts two silver medals and one bronze in Chengdu.
