Jones Inso finally ended a decade-long gold medal drought for Philippine men’s wushu taolu athletes after ruling the men’s taijiquan-taijijian event at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games on Monday at the Ratthaprasasanphakdi Building Government Complex in Bangkok, Thailand.
Inso had come close to a breakthrough in the 2021 SEA Games, settling for silver in taijiquan, but this time he delivered a long-awaited gold—the country’s first in the discipline since wushu legend Daniel Parantac’s taijijian victory at the 2015 Games in Singapore.
The triumph also served as redemption for the Sagada, Mountain Province native, who finished seventh at the World Games in Chengdu, China just months ago after slipping in the taijijian portion.
This time, Inso made sure his strong start would carry through, producing an even stronger finish.
The Adamson University product combined his advantage in the barehand form with a steady sword routine to post a total score of 19.563, edging Singapore’s Tan Yu Xuan and Chan Jun Kai.
The 28-year-old narrowly topped Tan and Chan in taijiquan on Sunday, then sealed the gold with a 9.780 in taijiquan and a 9.783 in taijijian. Tan finished with 19.543 to claim silver, while Chan settled for bronze with 19.530.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Alexander Gabriel Delos Reyes, the reigning World Junior champion in taijishan (fan form), made his SEA Games debut with an 11th-place finish after scoring 18.759.
With the victory, Inso delivered the Philippines’ second gold medal in wushu taolu at the Games and completed a sweep of the discipline, following Agatha Wong’s triumph in the women’s event on Sunday.
