Pinoy athletes shine in Wushu World’s and Asian Men’s Softball
Posted on October 31st, 2012 under Sporting Gold
Reigning world champions Dembert Arcita and Jesse Aligaga lived up to their top billing in the recent Wushu Sanda World Cup in Wuyishan, China as they captured the gold medals in their respective weight categories.
Arcita and Aligaga, both Ilonggos, beat in contrasting fashions separate Vietnamese rivals in the finals of the event exclusive to the medalists of the last year’s biennial World Wushu Championships.
Twenty seven-year-old Arcita needed only two rounds in outclassing Hoang Hong Tu in the 52-kg class. Arcita knocked out Hoang in the 2011 worlds.
For Aligaga, 28, it was an uphill climb. His foe in the 48-kg class, Doan Yuan Cuong, clinched the close first round. In the next two rounds, Aligaga who have grabbed a silver medal and a bronze in his previous World Cup stints, pummeled Doan with punch-kick combinations.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Blu Boys finished runner-up in the 11th Asian Men’s Softball Championship in Niimi City, Okayama, Japan, and qualified for the 2013 world championship in New Zealand next year.
The Filipinos were blanked 7-0 by Japan in the championship match.
Prior to the finals, the Philippines,which won the Asian title thrice in 1978, 1985, and 1989, beat Indonesia in a playoff game. The Blu Boys, behind the pitching of Florante Acuna, who was chosen as member of the tournament’s Mythical 9 selection, delivered by clobbering Indonesia 7-0.
Edmer del Rosario started the scoring binge for the Philippines with a run in the second inning. Orlando Binarao, Romy Bumagat and Jerome Bacarisas scored a run apiece on three hits in the third inning.