APG: Reyes snares bronze

NAGOYA – From falling from a macopa tree and losing his right arm at age five to raking in medals in international races almost two decades later.

That’s how King James Reyes’ life has transformed after he added another feat to his growing collection – a bronze in the 5th Asian Para Games at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium here Friday.

The 24-year-old ASEAN Para Games double-gold winner timed in four minutes and 13.81 seconds in cracking the podium of the men’s 1,500-meter T46 race and delivering the Philippine athletics team’s first and only medal thus far in this edition.

Sri Lankan Wahumpurage and Puwakpitikande took the gold in 4:03.25 while Indian Parmod copped the silver in 4:09.65.

“Sa tulong ni God, hindi po naging hadlang ang kapansanan ko para maabot ko ang aking mga pangarap,” said the proud son of Loreto, Agusan del Sur and graduating Sports Science student at Adamson.

“Personal best ko din po ito, nagbunga training namin at sacrifices,” he added.

In the night events, Ma. Ravinia Carpena added another bronze in the women’s shotput F20 with her 11.39-meter effort.

Japanese Reina Hori snared the gold with a 13.57m while Siti Noraidah Suherman took the silver with an 11.46m.

Reyes’ bronze buried the stigma from the heartbreaking incident the day before when Cyril Cloyd Ongcoy lost his bronze in the 1500m T12/T13 category following the jury’s decision to reinstate an initially-disqualified Fakhriddin Khamraev of Uzbekistan, who pocketed the mint instead.

The contingent, which is funded by Philippine Sports Commission, sits at 17th overall in the medal race with a 2-2-3 harvest.