Molina falters in 200m IM, cops silver

HANOI – Tanker Miguel Molina fell short of his gold medal bid in his pet event as he lost to Kazakhstan’s Dimitriy Gordiyenko in the 200m individual medley and settled for silver in the third Asian Indoor Games at the My Dinh National Aquatics Center here yesterday.

The 25-year-old Molina, the 2007 SEA Games Best Male athlete, struggled in the first 50 meters and finished with a 1:59.89 clocking, behind Gordiyenko’s 1:57.50 effort for the gold medal. Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Chi-chieh took the bronze in 2:00.88.

Molina’s also lost in his quest for a shot at another medal as he failed to advance to the finals in the 50-m breaststroke event. He clocked 29.74 seconds to place fourth in Heat 2 and wound up 12th overall in a field of 22.

Meanwhile, sanshou artist Jennifer Lagilag bowed to a taller Nguyen Thi Bich of Vietnam, 0-2, in the semifinal round of the 48kg division and took the bronze medal at the Trinh Hoai Duc gymnasium.

Thi Bich asserted her might against the 27-year-old Benguet native early on, bloodying Lagilag’s nose in the first round. The Filipina bet fought back in the second round but the 2007 world champion tagged Lagilag with two roundhouse kicks to the body to clinch the victory.

“I gave it my best but she has the advantage in reach. She bloodied my nose and I was groggy in the first round but I fought back,” Lagilag said.

Rhea May Rifani, meanwhile, goes for sanshou gold against Gong Jinlan today in the 52kg division. Rifani won over Vietnamese Nguyen Thuy Ngan, 2-1, last Wednesday to seal a gold medal showdown with Jinlan, who beat Thuy Ngan, 2-0.

“This is the first time we will meet each other but I have seen her when I was part of the sanshou team that trained in China in 2007,” said Rifani, a graduating student at the University of Cordillera.

“We’re proud on the performance of Jennifer. As for Rhea, we expect a tough fight but we know she will be their fighting and giving her best to win the gold medal,” said RP chief of mission and wushu secretary-general Julian Camacho.

The Philippines has so far posted a one-gold, two-silver and three-bronze medals heading into the last two days of the week-long meet.

Boxer Annie Albania delivered the first gold medal for Team RP with a 12-4 victory over Thailand’s Sopida Satumrum in their bantamweight clash last Wednesday.