Catalan and Rivera, two of the country’s most decorated wushu players, stamped their class anew to win their respective divisions in the tournament serving as a warm-up for the coming Doha Games in December.
"The gold-winning effort of Catalan and Rivera is a big boost to our campaign in the coming Asian Games. We hope that we could sustain the momentum we gained in the tournament," said Eddy Tanteko, vice president of the Wushu Federation of the Philippines.
Aside from winning two gold medals, the RP squad also captured two silvers and a bronze to underscore its readiness for the quadrennial event where wushu is one of the country’s top medal hopefuls in the Asian Games following its impressive 11-gold haul in last year’s SEA Games.
"Asian Games is a different level so it’s hard for us to predict if we win a gold or not. But I’m certain that our athletes will do their very best," said Tanteko.
In ruling the 48kg category, Catalan beat Vietnam’s Van Van Linh while Rivera outpointed another Vietnam rival, Nguyen Tri Quan, in the 52kg.
Winning silver medals for the RP squad in the tournament exclusive only for sanchou practitioners were Eduard Folayang (70kg) and Rhea May Rifani (56kg) while Rexel Nagnhayna (56kg) settled for a bronze.
Sanshou is the combative event of wushu that involves punching, kicking and wrestling. The other is Taolo which requires precision, grace and timing.
Folayang, according to Tanteko, engaged his Chinese opponent in a fierce and exciting contest but the gold was awarded to his rival to the chagrin of the RP delegation.
China expectedly ruled the event for the third time by winning 11 of 17 events in the tournament that attracted 20 countries, including the United States, Russia, Romania and Switzerland.