Asian Martial Arts Games: RP sets sights on more golds

Team Philippines hopes to end its campaign in the 1st Asian Martial Arts Games on a golden note when Filipino athletes in muay, pencak silat, karatedo, kickboxing and wushu compete for honors in Bangkok, Thailand. Filipino muay fighter Zaidi Laruan is in the running for the gold medal in the men's lightweight category while five of his teammates are assured of bronze medals. But it‘s no easy task for the 21-year-old Laruan as he's up against Southeast Asian Games titlist Kwhangkhwang Weerapol of Thailand in the gold medal round on Friday. High hopes are also pegged on the team from wushu, which is banking on Beijing Games silver medalist Marian Mariano to win one of the eight gold medals at stake. Mariano is competing in the women’s 60-kg sanshou event and is hoping to reach the medal round with a victory over China's Jingjing Gao. "Winning the first gold medal has always been the hardest thing to do," RP chief of mission Dave Carter said. “But now that we’ve won it, things are slowly falling into place. We are expecting more medals to come as the tournament progresses." Taekwondo delivers 1st gold The Philippines netted its first gold medal in the inaugural games when unheralded Jeff Figueroa outclassed Rezai Hasan of Afghanistan, 10-7, in the finals of taekwondo’s men’s bantamweight competitions. Figueroa's teammates - Marlon Avenido in men’s welterweight class and Kristie Elaine Alora in the women’s middleweight category – pulled off silver finishes. Another jin, Karla Jane Alava, salvaged a bronze medal in the women’s bantamweight category while judoka Karen Ann Solomon also brought home a bronze in judo’s women’s middleweight class. These finishes helped the Philippines to hold the tenth spot in the 41-nation team standings with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. “Our athletes are playing with a high morale. So far, they have already earned the respect of their Asian counterparts," Carter said. Korea maintained its top standing with nine gold, four silver and two bronze medals while Kazakhstan is in second with 5-4-3 medal haul followed by Japan with a 5-1-2 slate. – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV