Four golds, new high

NAGOYA — In the late hours of the 20th Asian Games, Philippine taekwondo jins unleashed lethal kicks and Team Philippines hit its target of surpassing its medal harvest from previous editions of the Asiad.

Never before had the Philippine taekwondo team won an Asian Games gold. And never in six decades had Team Philippines won more than four golds going with eight silvers and 16 bronzes in a single edition.

Since 1962 Jakarta, the Philippines’ best was 4-6-9 in Doha in 2006.

Breakthroughs, milestones, and new benchmarks were achieved as the taekwondo team accelerated the country’s medal drive with a one-day haul of one gold, three silvers, and one bronze in the penultimate day of full action at the Nagoya Games.

Jeus Gabriel Yape, Tachiana Keizha Mangin, and Kurt Bryan Barbosa combined for a one-gold, two-silver blitz in taekwondo, while boxer Carlo Paalam added a silver and the beach volleyball pair of Khylem Harl Progella and Sofiah Shanine Pagara delivered a bronze.

Historic gold

Yape emerged as a new Philippine sporting hero, delivering the country’s first-ever taekwondo gold – and the clincher that allowed Team Philippines to surpass its medal harvest from the previous Asiad (4-2-12 in 2023 Hangzhou).

The 22-year-old native of Kananga, Leyte, came through with a performance to remember, winning the Mixed Individual Virtual Taekwondo – a big follow-up to his bronze-medal finish in the men’s individual poomsae.

With a full day of competition still to go, Team Philippines is already celebrating a successful Nagoya campaign, posting its biggest haul since the 1962 Jakarta Games, when it won seven golds, six silvers, and 24 bronzes.

In this 20th edition of the continental conclave, the gallant Filipinos have produced a 4-8-16 tally.

On a Friday that saw more Philippine aces fall short, Yape became the surprise source of the much-awaited fourth gold, adding to gymnast Carlos Yulo’s double-gold performance and pole-vaulter EJ Obiena’s golden repeat.

Yape’s feat was a breakthrough not just for himself but for Philippine taekwondo as a whole.

Since taekwondo was first played in the Asian Games in 1986, Filipino jins had managed only four silvers and 25 bronzes. No gold.

It took Yape’s skill, artistry, and savvy to finally deliver it – on the mat, in the introductory staging of Virtual Taekwondo, described as a “non-contact digital combat sport where athletes wear VR headsets and motion-tracking sensors to fight opponents through avatars in a virtual arena.”

The event is a 16-player, single-elimination knockout tournament, best-of-three rounds with a maximum of 60 seconds per round, for athletes aged 17 to 35.

The UST Tiger Jin stared down a daunting double mission – and didn’t just survive it, he conquered both.

On Thursday, he tallied 9.0900 to share the bronze in Men’s Individual Poomsae with Singapore’s Darren Zong Han Yap (9.0400), behind Korea’s Yun Kyusung (9.3800) and Thailand’s Navin Pinthasute (9.2800).

Less than 24 hours later, he traded forms for firefights.

Yape survived a gritty 2-1 test against Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Bushuaib Saber in the Round of 16, then found his rhythm – blanking hometown bet Hayate Suzuki of Japan, 2-0, in the quarterfinals and sweeping Kazakhstan’s Rita Bakisheva, 2-0, in the semifinals.

He saved his most ruthless performance for last.

In the final, Yape completely dismantled Vietnam’s Chau Ngoc Tuyet Sang, 2-0 (500-0, 620-0) – a staggering 1,120-0 advantage in Remaining HP, built on 21 kicks, five head kicks, and five blocks.

“Nakaraang months lang in-announce, July, na may Virtual Taekwondo. Pagbalik namin from a Korean competition, ini-sked na kaagad ako sa training. Super thankful ako sa mga teammates ko at mga seniors, sinamahan nila ako sa laro sa Pilipinas. Mas nasanay ako,” said Yape.

From bronze medalist in the 2024 World Poomsae freestyle team event in Hong Kong and the 2025 SEA Games mixed team freestyle, to history-maker on Mat 2 of the Toyohashi Gymnasium.

Narrow misses

Philippine taekwondo narrowly missed a possible second and third gold as former world junior champion Tachiana Keizha Mangin and Olympian Kurt Bryan Barbosa bowed in their respective finals.

Mangin dropped a tight women’s -49kg final against China’s Ma Jingyue, while Barbosa lost a slam-bang -58kg finale to Kazakhstan’s Tamirlan Tleules.

Those were heartbreakers, just as painful as Paalam’s defeat against a hometown bet at the Nishio Gymnasium.

Nonetheless, the day ended as the most productive for the Philippines.

Beach volley breakthrough

The Friday blitz included a bronze finish by Khylem Harl Progella and Sofiah Shanine Pagara in women’s beach volleyball, a repeat bronze by Jenna Kaila Napolis in jiu-jitsu, and the Blu Girls advancing to the softball bronze-medal match.

Progella and Pagara won the country’s first-ever Asiad medal in beach volleyball, coming from behind to beat China’s Cao Shuting and Dong Jie, 13-21, 23-21, 15-13, at the Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court.

The men’s indoor volleyball team salvaged some pride, winning its penultimate match in the classification round by topping Uzbekistan, 25-19, 25-15, 23-25, 25-17. Bryan Bagunas led the way with 26 points, while Joshua Magalaman and Rwenzmel Taguibolos chipped in 13 and 11, respectively.

Padel, softball eye bronze

In padel, Joshea Malazarte and Danna Abad suffered a 0-6, 0-6 shutout against Indonesia’s Fadona Kusumawati and Fitriani Sabatini in the women’s pairs semifinals. But the Filipinas still have a shot at bronze against another Indonesian tandem – Novela Putria and Beatrice Gumulya – at 11 a.m. today.

Almost at the same time at the Anjo Softball Ground, the Blu Girls will try to salvage podium honors in a battle for third against Chinese Taipei.

At the Kasugai Country Club, both the men’s and women’s golf teams posted their worst rounds in three days.

Justin delos Santos, Miguel Tabuena, Rianne Malixi, and Bianca Pagdanganan all turned in one-over 71s. Going into the final round, the women’s team is in seventh, 13 strokes off leader China (15-under 405), while the men’s team is eighth, 16 strokes behind pacesetter Korea (20-under 400), led by Kim Joohyung – known in the Philippines as Tom Kim.

Judo competition is moving to mixed and team events, with the Philippines failing to make the medal table in individual competition. Beaten before the medal round yesterday were two-time Olympian Kiyomi Watanabe, Chino Sy Tancontian, and Eskelen Kedo.