The national judo squad will return home without a single medal after suffering defeat to Thailand in the Round of 16 of the mixed team event at the 19th Asian Games held at the Xiaohan Linpu Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
All four Filipino judokas, led by Olympian Kiyomi Watanabe, were eliminated by their Thai counterparts.
This brings their campaign in this tournament – supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee – to a close without a single medal.
Watanabe was defeated by former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Thonthan Satjadet in the women’s +70-kilogram class. Meanwhile, Ryoko Salinas surrendered to Supattra Nanonong in the women’s -70-kg event via ippon within the first 31 minutes of the match.
Also succumbing to Thai opponents were John Viron Ferrer in the men’s -90-kg event and Carl Dave Aneseta in the men’s +90-kg event, who lost to Wei Fuyang and Kittipong Hantratin, respectively.
As a result, the Filipinos finished in ninth place, while the Thais advanced to the quarterfinals.
