Zumido wins gold medal in muay event in Macau

Ruben Zumido gave the Philippines its first gold medal in the Macau 2nd Asian Indoor Games. A report from the Philippine delegation on Saturday said that Zumido, who almost missed his trip to event due to a suspension for punching a teammate in the face, defeated Metta Khetnok of Thailand in their light-welterweight match of the muay event. Zumido's gold sparked well among the Philippines's two silver and three bronze medals, which were just fine in this competition among 45 nations. No other country won more than 10 gold medals in Macau aside from China (59), Thailand (19), Hong Kong (15) and Korea (10). The Philippines was No. 19 in the Top 20. Aside from the muay gold and silver medals, the Philippines also won a bronze each in chess and hoop sepak takraw. Zumido's inclusion in the team was hinged on his promise to reform. He was suspended for four months before the Muay Association of the Philippines (MAP) deliberated on the composition of the team, which was pressed to produce for the Philippines after its team won a gold and two bronze medals in the Asian Indoor Games' inaugural in Thailand in 2005. Zumido, a criminology graduate at the University of Iloilo, owns one bronze in that haul with Billy Alumno, accounting for the gold in wai kru and the other bronze in muay. The Philippines had the shot at two more gold medals earlier, but Roland Claro and Brent Velasco were dominated by a participant from Hong Kong and a Thai, respectively. Chan Kai Tik of Hong Kong floored Claro in their flyweight match many times to win via unanimous decision and give the Filipino the lesser glint of a silver medal. Supachai Payunhan of Thailand, meanwhile, also denied Velasco of the gold, posting another unanimous victory in their bantamweight final clash that was greeted by the largely Thai audience. The crowd, however, expressed disappointment over Zumido's triumph. Zumido's victory broke the Thai juggernaut in the sport they consider sacred, with Khetnok's silver tainting their three other gold in their muay haul. - GMANews.TV