Manginsay, Redulla bag silver

NAGOYA – The spirit of the late Josephine Medina lives on.

Lhey Manginsay and Wilfred Redulla paid fitting tribute to the Paralympic bronze medalist after winning silver in mixed doubles Class XD17 at the 5th Asian Para Games at Sky Hall Toyota yesterday.

“Our last medal in the Asian Para Games was a silver from Jo in 2018,” said national para table tennis coach Louie Eballa, referring to Medina, who passed away five years ago.

Manginsay and Redulla pushed for gold but fell to Paralympic gold medalist Zhao Shuai and Asian Para Games silver medalist Xiong Guiyan of China, 7-11, 11-9, 4-11, 6-11.

The silver not only averted a shutout in the final two days of table tennis but also evoked memories of Medina, who delivered the country’s last medal in the sport – a silver in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games.

It somewhat made up for the lost bronze medal of Cyril Cloyd Ongcoy in the men’s 1500m T12/T13 earlier in the day, after the athletics jury reinstated initially disqualified Fakhriddin Khamraev of Uzbekistan.

The decision dropped the 23-year-old Ongcoy – a double gold medalist in last January’s ASEAN Para Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand – to fourth place. Khamraev was awarded the gold, while Jordan’s Nabeel Maqableh and India’s Sharath Makanahalli, who initially took gold and silver, settled for silver and bronze, respectively.