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PHL jiu-jitsu bets strike gold at Asian Beach Games



Jiu-jitsu bets Maybelline Masuda and Annie Ramirez secured the Philippines' first two gold medals in the history of the competition at the start of the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand.

Filipino-Japanese Masuda dominated Vietnamese foe Le Thu Trang, 15-0, in the women's 50kg category.

"We have many talented ju-jitsu fighters back home. I hope it will soon be included in the Olympics," said Masuda, who was trained by Philippine MMA legend Alvin Aguilar.

The 25-year-old Masuda is a six-time Pan Asian International Ju Jitsu Championship open category champion.

"May (Masuda) is the first Filipino world champion in jiu-jitsu and we’ll be working hard to reclaim her title next year," said Aguilar, who is also the president of the Wrestling Association of the Philippines.

Ramirez, on the other hand, recovered from being pinned by Thailand's Onanong Saengsirichok, forcing an armbar in the 60kg category for the country's other gold.

"I don’t want her to take advantage of my mistakes and give them a reason to increase her points," said Ramirez.

Ramirez' mentor, John Baylon, also added a bronze to the Philippines' medal haul via the 80kg category.

The Philippines, with two golds and a bronze, now finds itself in fifth place out of 45 countries after two days of competition behind Mongolia (6-0-2), United Arab Emirates (4-2-3), Pakistan (2-3-0) and Thailand (2-2-6).

"It’s very important for Philippine sports to win medals in this kind of competition. I hope it continues in the next 10 days to inspire our athletes bound for the SEA Games," said chef de mission Richard Gomez. "We really need to redeem ourselves."

A total of 77 athletes are representing the Philippines in 16 sports in the competition. - RAF, GMA News
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