Lim succumbs to UAE fighter, settles for silver

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan – Jiu-Jitsu fighter Marc Alexander Lim dropped a 0-2 setback to Talib Saleh Mohamed Sale Alkirbi of UAE and kissed his gold medal bid in the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) at the Ashgabat Olympic Complex here Monday night.

Lim, a purple belter, was on top of his black-belter opponent majority of their six-minute encounter in the -65kg men’s Ne-Waza. But the 20-year-old native of Davao City failed to cash in on his chances and force Alkirbi into submission at the Martial Arts Indoor Arena.

That enabled Alkirbi to escape Lim’s stronghold and got better positioning to score the crucial points in the last 17 seconds for the gold medal.

Lim settled for silver, the first for Team Philippines, and second medal overall after Alvin Lobriguito earned a bronze in freestyle traditional wrestling.

“It would have nice to have ended it with a win, or at least 0-0 (referee’s decision),” Lim said. “But I’m very happy to have delivered a medal, but I would have been happier if it’s a gold, so I can’t really say that I’m happy with the silver.”

The 25-year-old Lobriguito got the luck of the draw in his category where there were just seven entries. In his lone match, he suffered a 4-0 defeat to host nation’s Yakupnazar Yakubow in the semifinals.

In contrast, Lim went through five tough assignments to make it to the finals – where Alkirbi proved to be a tough opponent.