THE Philippines bagged its second gold medal in the 19th Asian Games after Margarita Ochoa won a closely-contested Women’s -45KG Jiu-jitsu finals match against United Arab Emirates’ Balqees Abdulla on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, at the XSL Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
Ochoa earned the win by a point advantage after a competitive match.
Ochoa started out the day with a submission win over Mongolian Odgerel Batbayar in the Round of 16. She followed it up with another submission victory over Kazakh Nazgul Rakhayeva in the quarterfinals. Ochoa earned a trip to the finals after a 4-2 points win over Thai Pechrada Kacie Tan.
Meanwhile, Marc Alexander Tan failed to claim a bronze medal in the Men’s -62KG division of Jiu-jitsu after losing to Kazakhstan’s Mansur Khabibulla, 2-6, on points.
On the other hand, the Philippines won two matches in the preliminary round of Men’s Sepak Takraw.
The Philippines defeated Myanmar, 2-0, and India, 2-0.
Alwyn Batican failed to clinch a spot in the bronze medal match of the Men’s Kumite -75KG weight class of Karate after a 3-5 points loss to Indonesia Ignatius Joshua Kandou in a repechage.
As of press time, Olympian Eumir Marcial was fighting China’s Tanglatihan Touhetaerbieke in the light heavyweight gold medal match.
The Philippines was ranked 22nd in the overall medal tally with two golds, a silver, and nine bronze medals as of press time.