Asian Games: PH golfer Yuka Saso wins gold medal in dramatic fashion

Philippine bet Yuka Saso delivered the country’s second and third gold after conquering the women’s individual golf competition in the 2018 Asian Games Sunday at Pondok Indah Golf and Country Club in Jakarta.

Saso flourished in the crucial stages, delivering on an eagle in the 18th hole to finish with a -13 overall score after 18 holes.

The 17-year-old Saso bounced back from her double bogey in the 17th hole.

China’s Liu Wenbo was the frontrunner going into the 18th hole with a -13 mark but wavered in the final with a quadruple bogey.

Saso’s triumph also lifted the Philippines women’s team to the gold medal spot, pushing the country’s gold total to three.

The Philippine team secured the gold medal with a -22 mark after Saso’s performance.



Weigtlifter Hidilyn Diaz won the Philippines first gold medal. The Filipinos now have 12 medals overall, nine of which are bronzes.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Hope floats

JAKARTA—Wushu’s Divine Wally lost in the semifinals of the women’s 52-kilogram sanda event Wednesday and settled for the bronze, the country’s fourth in the 18th Asian Games, which came a day after the Philippines broke through in the continental showcase courtesy of lifter Hidilyn Diaz.

In a match late in Day 4, Wally, the 2015 world champion, lost, 2-1, to Iran’s Elaheh Mansoryan Samiroumi at Jakarta International Expo for the Philippines’ fifth medal—counting the other three bronzes won by the men’s and women’s poomsae trios and Agatha Wong, another wushu bet.

Wally made the semifinals after posting a 7-2 win over hometown bet Petriwi Selviah earlier in the day, only to fall in a match where she was expected to dominate her Iranian foe.

Ironically, a win would have given the Philippines zero medals for the day, but would have put Wally in contention for a gold.

Instead, hope for a second gold on Thursday will be pinned on 4-foot-11 bundle of energy Carlos Yulo, who resumes his gold quest in the men’s floor exercise.

The Philippines’ lone gold came from Diaz, who ruled the women’s 53-kilogram snatch and clean and jerk events of weightlifting.

Yulo takes a stab at gold No. 2 and a historic first artistic gymnastics gold in the country’s long participation in this continental showcase.

The 18-year-old Yulo, who has been training in Japan for the last three years preparing for tournaments of this magnitude, topped the eight-man field that made it to the medal round of his pet floor exercise and will start seeing action at 4 p.m. (5 p.m. in Manila).

Yulo, the silver medalist in the floor exercise early this year in the World Cup in Doha, scored 14.500 in classification, with Chinese Taipei’s Chia- Hong Tang placing second at 14.450 and Japan’s Kakeru Tanegawa third at 14.400.

He finished seventh in a 24-man field in the individual all-around with a score of 80.750, six points behind champion Lin Chaopan of China.


Yulo will also compete in the vault finals.

Meanwhile, the Blu Girls advanced to the page system playoff of softball after routing host Indonesia, 4-0, under scorching heat at Gelano Bung Karno field to raise their record to 4-1, tied for second with China behind undefeated Japan.

They were to play Chinese Taipei at 8 p.m. Wednesday for a win that would assure them of a bronze medal at the very least and a chance to play for the gold.

Royevel Palma hurled a no-hitter in three innings relieving Mary Ann Antolihao as the Blu Girls regained sharp form a night after being downed by the tournament-leading Japanese, 1-11.

The bowling trio of Liza del Rosario, Lara Posadas and Alexis Sy finished way out of the medal fight as the Malaysian team of Hamidi Badrul, Rahman Siti Adbul and Mei Lan Cheah took the gold.

source: sports.inquirer.net

China’s Sun Yang launches Asian Games charm offensive

China’s Olympic champion Sun Yang showed a softer side to his gnarly public image on Sunday by lavishing compliments on rival Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino at the Asian Games.

The towering Chinese topped the time sheets in the morning’s 200 metres freestyle heats in Jakarta in a leisurely one minute, 47.58 seconds before being reminded about an unseemly diplomatic row he sparked at the last Asian Games in 2014.

Furious after being ambushed by Hagino in the 200m free in Incheon, Sun branded Japan’s national anthem “ugly” — not the first time the three-time Olympic gold medallist has become involved in a war of words.

“Look, I think Hagino is a good guy,” Sun told reporters. “The way he swims the individual medley is an inspiration to me. We should be working together to raise the level of Asian swimming.

“Today was a good first swim, very satisfied. The Asian Games isn’t the biggest competition perhaps but it’s an important stepping stone towards the world championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”

His part-time coach Denis Cotterell said the giant Chinese was pacing himself with further individual races to come in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m free.

“That was just a very safe swim,” the Australian told AFP. “He was slow off the blocks and just did what he had to do.

“He’s got a long programme so it’s early days,” added Cotterell. “We’ll know more about where he’s at at the end of the meet.”

Hagino, who won Olympic gold in the 400m individual medley in Rio two years ago, failed to qualify for the 200m freestyle at this year’s Asian Games.

Jordan’s Khader Baqlah, who has trained alongside American stars Caeleb Dressel and Ryan Lochte at the University of Florida, posted the second quickest time behind Sun in 1:47.60.

Defending champion Daiya Seto qualified fastest for the men’s 200m butterfly final in 1:57.23 from fellow Japanese Nao Horomura, who also won his his heat in 1:58.06, edging out India’s Sajan Prakash.

“I can definitely go quicker,” said Seto, who also won Pan Pacific gold in Tokyo earlier this month.

“It was about conserving energy. The key tonight will be to be brave and go for it.”

China’s Xu Jiayu went quickest in the men’s 100m backstroke heats, clocking 53.60 seconds with title-holder Ryosuke Irie of Japan winning his heat in 53.85.

China claimed the top two spots in qualifying for the women’s 200m backstroke final, with Liu Yaxin storming through to win her heat in 2:09.52, almost two seconds faster than Peng Xuwei.


Japan went one-two in the women’s 100m breaststroke heats with Satomi Suzuki quickest in 1:06.92 from Reona Aoki (1:07.24).

China dominated the swimming competition at the 2014 Asian Games, winning 22 gold medals to 12 for closest rivals Japan.

source: sports.inquirer.net