Wushu bets aim to end drought

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ first and only Asian Games gold medal in wushu came from Rene Catalan in 52kg sanda in 2006 so ending the 20-year drought is a goal for the eight men and two women representing the country in Nagoya. It won’t be easy hitting paydirt but the six taolu (choreographed performance forms) and four sanda (full-contact combat sparring) specialists are ready to battle for a podium finish.

The men’s team is made up of Jones Inso and Alex de los Reyes in taijijian/taijiquan, Mark Lester Ragay in daoshu/gunshu, Sandrex Gainsan and Mark Polo in changquan while in sanda are 56kg Carlos Baylon, 60kg Gideon Padua and 65kg Vander Alipio. The women are Agatha Wong in taijijian/taijiquan and Jenifer Kilapio in 52kg sanda.

Chinese taolu coach Li Jianfang and sanda assistant coach Jesse Aligaga will accompany the team to Nagoya. Chinese sanda coach Li Zhong Qian arrived in Manila last Friday but is skipping the Asian Games as his working visa and accreditation card won’t be ready on time.

At the previous Asiad in Hangzhou, Inso and Padua each claimed bronze while Arnel Mandal took silver in 56kg sanda. Wong, a six-time SEA Games gold medalist, bagged bronze at the 2018 Asiad but finished fifth in the next edition. “This is my third Asian Games and we just got back from China (training) last week,” said Wong who’s bidding to become the first Filipino gold medalist in taolu. “Arnel is no longer an active athlete and is currently a sanda assistant coach.” The other female on the team Kilapio brought home bronze from the last World Championships in Brazil.

Inso struck gold and Alipio took bronze at the SEA Games last year. Baylon won gold at the Sanda World Cup, bronze at the World Games and silver at the World Championships in a sweeping performance last year. He’s the first-ever Filipino to land a podium finish in wushu at the World Games. Gainsan claimed gold at the 2022 World Junior Championships and is a rising star from the youth ranks. Since wushu was introduced in the Asian Games in 1990, the Philippines has harvested one gold, eight silvers and 14 bronzes to rank No. 10 overall and No. 5 among Southeast Asian countries.