Barriga, Lopez, Fernandez fall: Suarez goes for gold as lone Phl survivor

INCHEON, South Korea – Charly Suarez fought off a very tough Jordanian rival for the Philippines’ only shot at the gold as three others fell on the wayside in what appeared to be the continuation of nasty officiating in the semifinal round last night of the Asian Games boxing competitions.

Suarez battled tentatively against tough Alkasbeh Obada Mohammad Moustafa of Jordan in the first round but got his bearing in the second and third rounds to score a stunning 28-29, 30-27, 30-27 victory that sent him to the gold medal round of the lightweight division.

That was the only semifinal victory for the Philippines as three others fell one after the other to fighters from Korea, China and Jordan at the Seonhak Gymnasium.

Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga, the 2013 Southeast Asian Games champion, lost his quest for the Asian Games gold as the judges saw it 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, in favor of Korean Shin Jonghun.

Mario Fernandez also got the measure of Chinese Zhang Jiawel who scored a 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 in their bantamweight encounter.

Wilfredo Lopez, who knocked out Normandkh Shinebayar in the quarterfinal, found his match in Jordan’s Alhindawi Odai Riyad Adel, who scored a close 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 victory.

Suarez, who decisioned knockout artist Kumar Adkhil of India in the round of 16 and Iraqi warrior Hasan Ammar Jabbar Hasan in the quarterfinal, found the going tough against the Jordanian, who was more aggressive in the first round where he gained a 29-28 edge.

Getting the cue from his mentor Nolito Velasco, the 26 year-old Suarez, the 2013 Asian Championships silver medalist and 11th in the world, started on the offensive in the second round where he unleashed his patented straights, left hooks and uppercuts that found their mark.

Suarez goes up against Mongolian Dorjnyambuu Otgondalala, who outfought Japan’s Satoshi Shimizu, 3-0, for what could be the country’s second gold after Danny Caluag’s in BMX racing.

Dojrnyambuu, the Guangzhou Asian Games quarterfinalist, was 17th in the world in 2013.

In a bout that upset the boxer and infuriated his coach and the fans, Barriga gave everything he’s got to score what looked like a sure victory, but the judges saw it for the Korean in the first two rounds and went on to award the third also to the Korean.

The Korean looked tired and gasping for air as he fought the Filipino, who scored solid blows with his straights and left hooks which were overlooked by the judges.

The Korean hardly threw solid punches, trying vainly to land shots that were scored nevertheless by the judges.

The way things are shaping up, the Korean is a cinch to win the gold medal against Kazakhstan’s Zhakypov Birzhan in the final.

The same tragedy befell Fernandez in the bantamweight division where he lost to Zhang on all rounds 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.

The scoring appeared blatantly inaccurate in the third round where Fernandez landed four solid shots in succession after a straight, all of which were visibly not on the judges’ scorecard.

The Chinese will find himself in big trouble in the final where he disputes the gold with Korean finalist Ham Sangmyeong.

With the semifinal victory of Suarez, the Philippines is assured of at least a silver and had three bronze medals from the losses of Barriga, Lopez and Fernandez.

Judging in boxing has been under fire from many countries, which have lost their matches to Korean bets.

In the medal ceremony for the women’s lightweight, for instance, Indian boxer Sarita Devi broke down on the podium on Wednesday and refused to wear the bronze medal when it was awarded to her.

She only accepted the medal with a clutched hand and mockingly handed it to silver medalist Ji Na Park, who had defeated Sarita in a controversial semis bout on Tuesday. 

Sarita is facing possible sanctions.

The Philippines had one more medal – a bronze – in its medal haul through an unlikely fighter, Keith Benjamin Sembrano, who went on to compete in the -68 kg class of the taekwondo competitions after suffering from chest pain a week before the competitions.

Sembrano destroyed Kuwaiti Abdullaj Hasan, 12-10, in the round of 16, upended Thai Tangjai Chetrapee in the quarterfinal, 12-9, before losing to China’s Jiang Jienan, 2-8, in the semifinal. Jienan advanced to the final against Iran’s Asbaghikhanghah Behram.

Jane Rafelle Narra lost to Gulim Biblayeva of Kazakhstan, 0-5, in the first round.

With its only medal for the day, the Philippines remained at 22nd overall with 1-2-8 gold-silver-bronze medals.

China continued its surge in the charts, accounting for 141-98-78 for the day, with Korea at second with 76-68-73, Japan third with 46-68-69, Kazakhstan fourth with 20-29-32, and Iran fifth with 18-11-16.

Among Southeast Asian nations, Thailand was ninth with 9-7-27, Singapore 14th with 5-6-11, Malaysia 14th with 4-14-11, Indonesia 16th with 4-5-11, Myanmar 20th with 2-1-1 and Vietnam 21st with 1-10-24.