Tipon adds third gold to RP haul

DOHA — Joan Tipon made it a two-gold haul for boxing and three overall for the Philippines which pressed its bid for a top 15 finish in the Asian Games with two more wushu bets in the hunt for gold medals in Day 13 here.

Tipon, who nipped Athens Olympics silver medalist Worapoj Petchkoom of Thailand Monday, firmed up his claim as the top bantam in the region by demolishing Han Soon Chun of Korea, 21-10, to earn the gold in the 54kg class.

"The fight against Petchkoom was harder than this," said Tipon, fast emerging as the man to watch in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. "I came in relaxed for this match because I have watched Han’s previous fights more than five times. I studied his techniques and worked hard on training."

Tipon later said he will next focus on winning the gold in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

"I don’t want to move to the pros. I have set my sights on getting a gold in the 2008 Olympics," said Tipon, who stands to receive incentives worth P1.5 million.

"With that money, I will buy a house and use the rest of the money in business," Tipon said.

Ranged against a taller rival, Tipon was all business Wednesday although he fought at a distance in the early going as Han tried to reach in with his 1-2 combination.

But the Filipino fighter scored the first two points to the body then proved to be an elusive target, landing counterpunches as Han left himself open in every charge.

Tipon, who won the Asian Championships in Vietnam last year and the Tampere Cup boxing tournament in Finland early in the season, took the first round at 6-2 and controlled the fight from there as the Korean failed to pin down the scrappy Filipino on the ropes, frustrating him no end.

At times they would clash at center or in the corner and the Korean would score but Tipon proved as slippery as eel, fleeing from Han’s clutches with his quick moves and dancing the time away.

Tipon, 24, made the sign of the cross at the buzzer, knelt in front of his countrymen at the Aspire Hall 5 then waved a Philippine flaglet . He went back to the center for the traditional hand-raising ceremony to the cheers of hundreds of Filipino supporters, from officials to volunteers and OFWs.

Millions more celebrated the win back home as the Philippines continued to make great strides at the finish of this 15th staging of the Asian Games. The third gold matched RP’s haul in the Busan Asian campaign in 2002 where it wound up 19th with 3-7-16 (gold-silver-bronze) medals.

Counting the silver medal feat of karateka Ma. Marna Pabillore late Tuesday, the Philippines moved up to 17th with a 3-5-9 take heading into the final day of competition Thursday.

Late in the night, wushu fighter Rene Catalan assured the Philippines of at least another silver by barging into the finals of sanshou 52-kg, beating Yemeni Naji Al Ashwal, 5-0, 5-0. Eduard Folayang was set to vie for berth in the -70kg category final in a clash with Khosrow Minoo of Iran in the semifinals.

Also in wushu, Rexel Martin Nganhayna bowed to Korean Kim Jun Yul.

In the men’s nanquan, Willy Wang was running fourth after the second session with 9.62 points while Pedro Quina was 11th with 9.45 points. Chinese Wu Caibao showed the way in the three-session event with 9.80 points.

In women’s taijiquan, Janice Sy Hung was tied for fourth with Malaysian Ng Shin Yii with 9.57 points apiece. Chai Fong Ying, another Malaysian, led with 9.67 points.

Pabillore did try her best to give a karate gold for Team RP but she bumped into a tougher rival in Tomoko Araga of Japan and lost, 1-9, in the women’s kumite -53kg final late Tuesday. She settled for silver.

Mae Soriano and Irineo Toribio, the other kumite fighters who saw action Tuesday, failed in their medal bids.

Soriano, campaigning in the -48 kilogram division, advanced into the quarterfinals with a 9-1 thrashing of Ana Maria Paula Pinto of Timor Leste, but was narrowly beaten by Vietnamese Vu Thi Nguyet Anh, 1-2, in the quarterfinals.

Toribio, on the other hand, was eliminated by Ihtiyor Sharapov of Uzbekistan, 0-1, in the quarterfinals after beating Inthanaouisone Vilaysouk of Laos, 4-0.

Early Tuesday, Noel Espinosa edged Diaaldeen Al Karaky of Palestine, 5-0, in the battle for the bronze medal.

Karate queen Gretchen Malalad, bronze medallist four years ago in Busan, South Korea, dropped a 5-7 decision to Paula Pereira of Macau in the +60kg category.

Boxing thus produced two gold medals and the same number of bronzes from its brave bunch of seven fighters in a sterling campaign that brought back memories of the three gold medal haul by Mansueto Velasco Jr., Elias Recaido Jr. and Reynaldo Galido in the 1994 Hiroshima Games.

At the Hamad Aquatic Centre, Zardo Domenios and Nino Carag made it to the men’s 3m springboard final set to be held late Wednesday.

At the Lusail Archery Range, both the men’s and women’s archery teams bowed out in the last 16 with Mark Javier, Marvin Cordero, Christian Cubilla and Paul Marton dela Cruz losing to Korea, 108, 104, and Jasmin Figueroa, Rachelle Cabral, Katherine Santos and Karen Yasi going down in defeat to Kazakhstan, 185-196.

Over at the West Bay Lagoon, Marvin Amposta crashed out of the medal race in the kayak single (K1) 500m semis, finishing in sixth place, while Norwell Cajes blew his bid in the Canoe Single (C1) 500m semis by placing fifth.

In chess, International Master Ronald Dableo pressed his bid for the grandmaster title when he defeated GM Reefat Bin Sattar of Bangladesh Tuesday in the mixed team classical event.

But Jedara Docena bowed to Samima Akter in the third board as the Philippines and Bangladesh battled to a 1.5-all draw.

The top board pitting IM Darwin Laylo against IM Enamul Hossain ended in a draw.

The Filipinos have 10 points after seven rounds, 8.5 points behind India.

The top-seeded Indians clobbered Iran, 2.5-0.5, to lead second-running China by 4.5 points. Tied for third were Indonesia and Qatar.

In fencing, the men’s team, composed of Gian Carlo Nocom, Walbert Mendoza and Edward Daliva, lost to Iran in the sabre event, 28-45.

Cyclist Jan Paul Morales was relegated to a battle for 11th place when he lost to Chinese-Taipei’s Lin Kun Hung in the men’s sprint race.