Gilas Pilipinas members have a good time with their gold medals after defeating Jordan of their males’s basketball gold medal on the nineteenth Asian Video games in Hangzhou, China, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (AP Picture/Lee Jin-man)
HANGZHOU, China—After Gilas Pilipinas dismantled Jordan within the males’s basketball finale of the nineteenth Asian Video games, Staff Philippines accomplished the coveted mission of duplicating the gold medals in its treasure trove through the earlier Asiad.
However for Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, the Gilas triumph on Friday night time means a lot extra.
“It’s price a thousand golds,’’ beamed Tolentino the morning after the Philippines matched its output of 4 gold medals in 2018 Indonesia.
Not solely did Gilas, a group of PBA stars underneath the steering of coach Tim Cone, win the nation’s fourth gold, this group likewise ended a tiring wait of 61 years for the Asian Video games diadem to return to native shores.
The Philippines, led by the legendary Caloy “The Large Distinction’’ Loyzaga, claimed 4 straight basketball titles within the Asian Video games from 1951 in New Delhi, India to 1962 Jakarta in Indonesia.
Since then, frustrations for the Nationals piled up with a silver in 1990 in Beijing and two bronze medals in 1986 Seoul and 1998 Bangkok their solely journeys to the rostrum.
“It’s God’s will, prayers answered. That’s truly 5 gold medals received all in all, counting Eumir’s (Marcial) silver,’’ stated Tolentino.
Cone assembled a combating crew sure for China’s synthetic intelligence and e-commerce hub right here on the fly constructed round naturalized participant Justin Brownlee and World Cup holdovers Scottie Thompson, Junemar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar and CJ Perez.
Chris Newsome and Calvin Oftana, who each received reduce from that World Cup squad coached by Chot Reyes, received inserted this time with San Miguel gamers Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter in addition to Kevin Alas, Arvin Tolentino and Ange Kouame.
Ranged in opposition to China’s Tanglatihan Touhetaerbieke within the males’s 80kg closing, Marcial wound up with a silver medal, but it surely was ok contemplating that the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist earned one other golden shot in subsequent yr’s Paris Olympics.
FILE–Gold medalist Philippines’ Margarita Ochoa poses through the medal ceremony for the Ladies’s 48Kg jiu-jitsu within the nineteenth Asian Video games. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
Jujitsu warriors Meggie Ochoa and Annie Ramirez accounted for the 2 different gold medals on prime of the opposite silver from sanda fighter Arnel Mandal.
A complete of 12 bronze medals was likewise collected from quite a lot of sports activities, putting in the Philippines to seventeenth amongst 45 nations behind runaway total champion China’s 192 golds, 106 silvers and 66 bronze medals.
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“After 61 years, we proved as soon as once more that the Philippines is No. 1 in Asia (in basketball),’’ stated Tolentino.
World Video games karate champion Junna Tsukii enters the mat for the nation’s closing present on Sunday earlier than the Video games come to a detailed in one other lavish closing ceremony within the afternoon..
