PH excels in wushu at Asian Games

MANILA, Philippines – After several days of disappointments, at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, the Philippines finally had reason to celebrate.

The Philippines barged into the medal board thanks to a silver medal by Daniel Parantac in the men’s wushu taijiquan event. His win on Tuesday, September 23 proved to be just the first of several successes by the Philippine team in wushu as later on the same day, another wushu bet clinched a medal for the country.

Francisco Solis, 23, settled for the bronze medal in the men’s sanda -56kg class after withdrawing from his match against China’s Zhao Fuxiang due to injury. 

Before yielding, Solis put on a gallant stand in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, thumping Pakistan’s Ur Rehman Shams and Hongkong’s Wong Ting Hong, respectively. He took down each of his opponents, 2-0.

Solis previously won the bronze medal at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar.

To cap off the day, another wushu expert Jean Claude Saclag, 19, assured the Philippines of at least a silver medal as he broke through to the finals in the -60kg class of wushu men’s sanda. He defeated India’s Narender Grewal, 2-0, in the semis and will face Kong Hongxing of China in the gold medal round on Wednesday, September 24.

Saclag, who ranked third for the same event at the 2013 World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, bulldozed past his opponents in the Round of 16 (Myanmar) and quarterfinals (Indonesia). 

He can potentially give the Philippines its elusive first gold medal at the Asian Games this year. 

Wushu is a traditional Chinese martial art divided into two disciplines namely taolu (forms) and sanda (sparring). Sanda, in particular, is a competitive form which employs modern fighting methods influenced by traditional Chinese boxing, wrestling and even grappling techniques. – Rappler.com