Bannered by the solid play of Menandro Redor, the national para chess players finished with a flourish, earning three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals in the standard event. This achievement boosted the Philippines to 12th place overall in the standings midway through the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games held on Thursday.
In his second Asian Para Games, Redor held the top-seeded Turkmen player, Atabayev Aygdogdy, to a draw in the seventh and final round, anchoring the men’s squad to a sweep of the B2-B3 standard event. Redor emerged as the country’s first double gold medalist in the continental sports festival.
Despite having less than 10 percent vision in both eyes, Redor actually ended up tied for first place with identical 5.5 points alongside Iranian Amir Rabbi Khorasgani. However, Redor secured the gold through the tiebreaker as he had played against stronger opponents throughout the seven-round series.
Armand Subaste was the next best local chess player with four points after drawing against Tajikistan’s Suhrob Hamdamov. The Philippine squad, which included Darry Bernardo, finished with a total of 9.5 points, clinching the team gold in the event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Atty. Cheyzer Crystal Mendoza added the third gold in chess, despite losing to Mongolia’s Khisigbayar Migjee in the last round of the women’s individual standard PI event. Mendoza finished with a total of 5.5 points, the same as Indonesia’s Yuni, who defeated her compatriot Lilis Herna Yulia in the other match. Mendoza, however, secured the gold through the winner-over-the-other rule after defeating the top Indonesian player in the previous rounds.
Their achievements softened somewhat the setback suffered by the Philippine team in the men’s PI event, where they were dethroned in both the team and individual events by Indonesia following the setback of FIDE Master Sander Severino to veteran No. 1 Tirto in the final round. Severino, who had led the squad to sweep both events in the 2018 Jakarta edition, ended up with the individual bronze medal, while Henry Roger Lopez won the silver behind Tirto following his final-round victory over Mongolian Sundui Sonom.
A fourth gold was in the offing later in the day with Ernie Gawilan aiming to retain the men’s 100-meter backstroke S7 title at the HOC Aquatic Arena.
“We were actually eyeing six golds entering today’s round, but the strategy and luck didn’t go our way yesterday,” said national para chess coach James Infiesto. “Luckily, we won half our goals today.”
“Actually, we are still on target. There’s a possibility to achieve more,” stressed Infiesto, with the first two rounds of the rapid event set to start Thursday afternoon, adding, “the rapid game is one of our strong suits since we often play it back in our country.”
While elated over his feat, Redor, 38, said, “Actually, it was 50-50 going into the final round. I faced tough opponents.”
A winner of one gold, two silvers, and one bronze in Jakarta five years ago, the chess player said he hoped to contribute more to the country’s medal tally with the rapid event coming up.
On the other hand, Mendoza said she felt “bittersweet” about her gold in her Asian Para Games debut, especially after she felt she had a winnable match against the Mongolian despite playing with the black pieces.
“I was ahead but made a blunder in the 28th move that led to the loss. So this gold is bittersweet because I feel I let my team down,” she explained. “Had I won, we could have secured at least the team silver.
“But we have to manage our emotions since we still have the rapid event. We can’t afford to be impatient.”
After being in 20th place, the Philippines rose to 12th overall with four gold, three silver, and four bronze medals in the 44-nation meet, placing among the 25 countries that have won a medal so far.
In other sports, the Pilipinas Warriors finally secured their first win with a 54-51 victory over Kuwait, finishing in ninth place out of 10 countries at the Hangzhou Olympic Center Gymnasium.
National para cyclists Nikko Peralta and Arthus Bucay competed in the C4-C5 time trial, with Peralta finishing fifth (26:25.31) and Bucay coming in tenth (28:24.04).
