Pinoys firm up wushu drive

BEIJING – Former world champion Willy Wang led the men’s taolu (form) event and primed himself up for the title, even as Marianne Mariano assured herself of the women’s sanshou bronze medal in wushu, a three-day Olympic special event, which started yesterday.

Wang scored 9.74 points in the event watched by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, the honorary chairman of the Philippine Wushu Federation, to lead the first session of his event at the Olympic Sports Center.

A Brazilian competitor ranked second with 9.72 points, followed by a bet from Macau with 9.71 and a Taiwanese with 9.70. The second session is set Friday.

Mariano reached the final Friday against an Iranian. Two other Filipinos, Mary Jane Estima and Benjie Rivera, are also competing in the sanshou events.

At least 20 countries are entered in wushu. The winners will not be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals normally given to winners in regular Olympic events. The wins also don’t count in the official medal tally of the 29th Olympic Games.

The Chinese have introduced their indigenous sport in their effort to have it included in future Olympic Games. It was, however, scratched for the 2012 London edition.

Wushu president Julian Camacho ruled out the possibility of its inclusion in the next 20 years.