NOTWITHSTANDING a medal-less campaign for the first time in three editions, the Philippines, through the privately-supported Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP), fought hard and performed with grace and dignity in the 28th Summer Universiade in Gwangju City, Republic of Korea that featured nearly 14,000 university athletes and team officials from 145 countries.
The Philippines saw action in eight events in the Gwangju Universiade, a multi-sport competitions that has been dubbed as the “Olympics” at the university level.
These are athletics, badminton, golf, judo, lawn tennis, table tennis, swimming and taekwondo.
Organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), which has recognized the FESSAP as its lone national university sports association from the Philippines since 2009, the Summer and Winter Universiades are held biennially in non-Olympic years and involves prominent university athletes from across the globe, including current and future Olympians.
Unlike in the previous two editions, where the FESSAP took the lead role in sending the athletes to battle, the Filipinos failed to land a spot in the medal standings during the Gwangju Games.
Still, FESSAP president David Ong lauded the Filipinos’ overall performance.
“Unlike in 2013 in Kazan, Republic of Russia where we won a gold medal (men’s chess through Grandmaster Wesley So) and 2011 in Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China where we bagged a silver (men’s taekwondo through Samuel Thomas Harper Morrison), we did not win a medal in Gwangju this time,” said Ong.
“Still, I salute all our athletes for displaying the true spirit of sportsmanship and graciously accepting defeat but winning new friends.”
Ong also thanked San Miguel Corporation and Megaworld Corporation for their support of the 120-member Philippine delegation.
“Their support of the athletes’ participation in Gwangju was very heartwarming and for this, the FESSAP is most thankful,” declared Ong.
Though medal-less in the Gwangju Games, there were some preliminary victories in several disciplines.
Kimmi de la Rea of taekwondo whipped Tandin Lhamo of Bhutan, 4-1, 5-3, 9-5, in the Round of 32 of the 67-kilogram women’s division at the Chosun University gym but the 22-year-old student from Mapua Institute of Technology’s luck ran out in the Round of 16 when she was beaten by Nadeve Ahou of Ivory Coast.
Three other taekwondo jins reached the second phase before bowing out. They are Janeth Ann Garcia, Erson Macatangay and Ranielle Paul Ledesma.
Garcia beat Pakistan’s Mahnoor Mahnoor in Round of 32 of the women’s 57-kg division but was shut out by Hungary’s Edina Brigitta Kotsus, 0-16, in the next round.
Macatangay absorbed a loss at the hands of Kevin Ortiz of the United States in a referee-stopped contest in the Round of 32 of the men’s 58-kg division.
Badminton duo Jean Marie Lucas and J.C. Clarito outclassed the Sri Lanka pair of S.N. Weerasinghe and Chintaka Manimel in straight sets, 21-11, 21-15, in the first round (Round of 64) of the mixed doubles at the Hwasun Culture Sports Center but the partnership between Lucas, a 23-year-old standout at Adamson University, and Clarito, a 21-year-old product of the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, ended abruptly when they were whitewashed by the Chinese-Taipei tandem of Min-hao Tseng and Pei-chen Hsieh, 11-21, 9-21, in the Round of 32.
In athletics, Jingky Obanon made it to the second round of the women’s 400 meters.
The closest Filipino athlete to come to within a medal was Cebu-born Lloyd Jefferson Go. The 22-year-old Go, who is now based in the United States and matriculates at the Seton Hall University, a private Roman Catholic university and an NCAA Division I school in South Orange, New Jersey, wound up tied for seventh place (among 60 participants) in men’s golf with a four-day, 72-hole aggregate of 285 (three-under par).
Go was 12 shots off Japan’s gold medalist Kazumi Higa (273) and 11 off both France’s Nicolas Platret and Thailand’s three-day pacesetter Natipong Srithong, who secured the silver and bronze, respectively.
This early, the FESSAP is already preparing for the Philippines’ participation in the next edition of the Summer Universiade.
The 29th Summer Universiade will be hosted by Chinese-Taipei in 2017.
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