Arcita, Aligaga hope to claim Phl first gold

NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar – The 10-member wushu team, fresh from a dominating performance in last month’s Wushu World Championships in Malaysia, takes one more shot at the gold in the last two days of competitions, hoping to provide the ice-breaker for a Philippine contingent facing one of the stormiest chapters of its participation in the Southeast Asian Games which formally kicks off Dec. 11 at the new capital city of Nay Pyi Taw here.

World championship gold medalist Dembert Arcita steps on the mat as a heavy favorite to retain his 2011 SEA Games title in the 52 kg class of sanda (combat), while Jessie Aligaga hopes to claim the country’s other gold, his confidence boosted by his gold medal in the world championships – a big improvement from his bronze medal finish in the 2011 SEAG in Indonesia.

The wushu team has a strong contender in the taolu (form) category in Chan, sliver medalist in the duilian Saturday. He was gold medalist in the 2011 Asian Juniors and silver medalist in the 2011 SEA Games, 2012 Asian Wushu Championships and 2013 World Wushu championships.

Other taolu bets capable of winning the gold medals are Parantac, Chan’s silver medal partner in the duilian. He was world and 2011 SEAG silver medalist, world wushu silver medal winner Catolico and Divine Wally, 2012 Asian Junior silver medalist in the 48kg section.

Others vying for at least a bronze medal are 2012 Asian juniors bronze medalist Franciso Solis (sanda 56 kg), World and Asian bronze medalist Evita Elise Zamora (sanda 52 kg),  and 2011 SEA Games bronze medal winners Karisa Kris Chan and Nastasha Enriquez.

Although missing the services of mixed martial arts champion Eduardo Folayang and the tested wushu warriors of Mountain Province, the wushu team under national coaches Samson Co and Mark Robert Rosales believe the mixed breed of young and veteran wushu experts will hold their ground against top rival Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and host Myanmar.

The team has been training under foreign coaches Tong Qinghai (sanda) and Ma Qing (taolu). Their subsequent performance in last month’s world championships became the basis for the PSC’s approval of the 10-man team, from four before the staging of last month’s world championships.