Nagoya-Aichi Asian Games: Festival of firsts for Philippines

NAGOYA – What a fortnight.

First gymnastics golds, first taekwondo gold, best athletics haul since the ‘80s, first medals in 3x3 basketball, soft tennis, sepak takraw and beach volleyball – Team Philippines turned the 20th Asian Games into a festival of firsts and its best finish since 1962.

It began with a breakthrough bronze in soft tennis on Day One and ended with a silver in jiu-jitsu on the final day – in between, breakthrough after breakthrough as the Philippines posted its best Asiad finish in 64 years.

Last night, double-medal winner Jeus Yape carried the flag and led a pocket Philippine group in the parade of nations during the closing ceremonies at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium, bidding the games goodbye with a haul of four golds, nine silvers and 16 bronzes.

China, as expected and as always, dominated the games and ran away with the overall championship. Japan and South Korea, as always too, finished second and third.

But the Philippines’ finest put up proud fights and had their moments.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick Gregorio expressed overwhelming pride, noting the country’s medal surge across 16 different sports – from 11 in the 2023 Hangzhou Games.

“We’re very happy we won so many medals in so many sports. ‘Yan po ang malaking pagbabago, at ‘yan po ang importante sa ating development ng Philippine sports, sa ating grassroots program,” Gregorio said.

The 447-strong Team Philippines vied in 34 sports, hitting ultimate glory in gymnastics, taekwondo and athletics.

The taekwondo team strung up one gold, three silvers and one bronze in the last two days, capping a total haul of four golds, nine silvers and 16 bronzes – the best for the country since the 7-6-24 tally in 1962 Jakarta.

The Philippines won four golds in previous editions, but never with this many total medals. The previous four-gold hauls were 4-4-6 in 1978 Bangkok, 4-5-9 in 1986 Seoul, 4-6-9 in 2006 Doha, 4-2-15 in 2018 Jakarta-Palembang and 4-2-12 in 2023 Hangzhou.

Milestones were everywhere.

Two golds from gymnast Carlos Yulo – the first gymnastics golds in Asian Games history for the Philippines. One gold from Yape – the first taekwondo gold. One gold and two bronzes from athletics led by EJ Obiena – the best track and field haul since the ‘80s. And first-ever medals in 3x3 basketball (silver), soft tennis (bronze), sepak takraw (silver and bronze) and beach volleyball (bronze), plus podium finishes in the inaugural stagings of mixed martial arts (silver and bronze) and esports (two bronzes).

The PSC chief said the spread is the real victory.

“We won four golds and many silvers which could’ve been golds too. We won medals in various sports – testament to the development of Philippine sports at ang ating grassroots program,” said Gregorio.

The Philippines could have exceeded four golds if not for close losses from boxer Carlo Paalam, taekwondo jin Tachiana Mangin and jiu-jitsu practitioner Alex Enriquez.

Officials – and Paalam himself – felt the Tokyo Olympics silver winner fell victim to a bum call here that favored the home bet.

Mangin and Enriquez both fought great fights in the gold-medal bout. Both matches ended as 0-0 deadlock. Their rivals got the gold on the referee’s call.

There were sorry losses, sad defeats and heartbreaks.

Even before the opening ceremonies, Gilas Pilipinas was dethroned, losing the gold it won in a great run in 2023 Hangzhou. Tennis darling Alex Eala settled for another bronze finish. World jiu-jitsu champions Annie Ramirez and Kimberly Custodio fell by the wayside early in their respective divisions. Alas Men failed to make the knockout round and finished 13th.

Overall, it’s quite a ride for Team Philippines.