THE Tancontian siblings, Sydney and Chino, ended their campaign on a high note as they clinched gold medals and won most valuable player (MVP) awards in the 10th Jagsport Judo Championships held in Singapore over the weekend.
SEA Games 2017 judo bronze medalist Sydney, fresh from defending her University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s judo title, bested a teammate and a Singaporean opponent to rule the women’s seniors division.
In 2015, Sydney won the gold medal in the under -19 +57 kgs division and salvaged the bronze in the women’s under -23 division of the same event that was held at Budo Academy in Singapore.
Her younger brother Chino, meanwhile, boosted by his newly-acquired UAAP junior’s division title, topped the juniors division, beating his rivals from Indonesia and Singapore for the gold.
Chino fell short to an Uzbekistan opponent in the men’s seniors’ division finals to settle for silver.
Just like her older sister, Chino also won the gold in the under-16 -66 kilogram division in 2015.
Their father Paolo, in an interview with SunStar Davao, said his children will gear up for another grueling year to come and expect 2018 to be tough year for them.
Paolo believes that his kids will become stronger and will mature even more.
“Kulang pa sila ng international exposure compared sa mga taga Uzbekistan and other countries. Pero, sa tingin ko mga four years from now kaya na nila makipagsabayan,” Paolo said, adding that he reminds his children to prioritize their studies.
After the holidays, the siblings will resume training as they set their sight on the upcoming Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.