Judo doles out two more golds

Inspired by the presence of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, the Philippines dished out its best showing so far in the 23rd SEA Games judo event, carting away a pair of golds off come-from-behind performances by Gilbert Mendoza and Karen Ann Solomon yesterday at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.

Heading into the final day of competition, the spirited Filipino judokas collected a total of four golds, one silver, and four bronzes to surpass their 3-4-4 gold-silver-bronze haul in the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games.

The 22-year-old Mendoza, an Airman 2nd Class of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), used a decisive hip technique (harai goshi) to send Thailand's Alexander Ralli sprawling on the mat for an ippon (full point) at the 4:05 mark to retain his -73 kgs. crown.

"Gusto ko talagang manalo dahil ayo kong mapahiya sa ating mga kababayan lalo na sa mga Cebuano dahil napakainit ng suporta nila sa amin. (I really wanted to win because I don't want to be embarrassed before my countrymen especially to the Cebuanos because they've been really supportive to us," said Mendoza.



Ralli nailed the first point of the match, a koka with just 28 seconds gone by in the five-minute match, but Mendoza staged a daring fightback to turn back the Thai visitor.

Solomon accomplished the same feat earlier as she courageously fought back from a half-point (waza-ari) down with still 4:16 left to conquer Myanmar's Lay Kalyar Aung in the -63 kgs. final.

Lay was poised to frustrate the large throng of pro-Filipino crowd when he scored a wazar-ari (half point) in the first 44 seconds of the match.

But Solomon bounced back with a koka in 2:04 before employing a powerful hip technique to pin down Lay for the kill at the final 1:50 mark.

"Gusto ko talagang humabol dahil naunahan nya ako. Nakapagpalakas ng loob ko yung sigaw ng crowd (I really wanted to catch her up because she was ahead. The cheers of the crowd inspired me a lot)," said Solomon.

Solomon blasted her way to the final round after pulling off a vengeful victory over Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Dinh also in come-from-behind fashion.

Nguyen drew first blood with a koka in the first few seconds of the five-minute match, but Solomon scored a waza-ari (half point) off a grapple with 16 seconds left to clinch the win.

It was a sweet revenge for Solomon who was denied of a gold medal finish by Nguyen in the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam.

RP Team coach Jansen Benjamin, a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ensign, said the presence of Arroyo really bolstered the confidence of the national athletes.

"His (Arroyo) presence was really a big help because it boosted the morale of our athletes," said Benjamin.

The Philippines also got two bronzes courtesy of Aristotle Lucero and Estie Gay Liwanen.

Lucero, who was axed by Thailand's Bodin Panjabutra in the quarterfinals, subdued Myanmar's Nay Myo Tun in the -66 kgs. repechage for the bronze.

Liwanen, on the other hand, assured RP of at least bronze after defeating Myanmar's Thandar Win in the -63 kgs. She, however, crashed out of contention for the gold after losing to Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Nhu in the final four. Aside from Arroyo, adding glitz to yesterday's action was the presence of Cambodia's Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the leader of the royalist Funcinpec Party and eldest son of King Norodom Sihanouk, GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia, and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Four more weight categories will be contested at the close of the four-day judo tiff today, with Filipino bets Franco Teves vying for the gold in the -55 kgs., Pedro Daniel in the -60 kgs., Ruth Dugaduga in the -78 kgs., and Erika Joy Ponciano in the +78 kgs.