Bianca boosts medal hopes

PARIS — Bianca Pagdanganan is in medal contention heading to the last two rounds of the women’s golf in the 2024 Olympics.

Outside the top 40 in Tokyo in 2021, Pagdanganan was in the thick of things through 36 holes here after a three-under 69 highlighted by a strong closing nine in the second round at the menacing Le Golf National.

With her long drives and steady putts, she went even in the front nine and then blazed with three birdies in a bogey-free back for a 69 and a total of 141 for joint sixth in a star-studded cast now paced by Swiss Morgane Metraux.

Dottie Ardina also made strides, moving up to joint 36th after an even 72 going with her opening 76 even as Yuka Saso, a former Philippine lead bet now campaigning for Japan, carded a 74 after a 77.

Pagdanganan and Ardina are the last two bets standing for the 22-strong Team Philippines with the others all done with their Paris campaigns.

The day after John Ceniza started the medal bid of the weightlifting team with a DNF (Did Not Finish) card, Elreen Ann Ando provided some glow with a sixth-place finish in the women’s 59kg category.

Vanessa Sarno, entered in the 71kg class, was to compete Friday night at the South Paris Arena.

Ando had a fighting showing where she actually shared a fourth-best total lift of 230 with Venezuela’s Anyelin Venegas Valera and Nigerian Folashade Lawal.

The pride of Cebu settled for sixth after a countback tiebreak, improving from her seventh-place finish in Tokyo in 2021.

She lifted 100 in snatch, failing on 102, and scored a 130 in clear and jerk on her third and final try for a total of 230, 11 kilos behind the record-breaking 241 of gold-medal winner Luo Shifang of China.

Canada’s Maude Charron totaled 236 and beat Kuo Hsing-chun of Chinese Taipei by one for the silver.

For the Philippines, spotlight is now on Pagdanganan who’s embracing the honor and privilege of playing with a patch of the Philippine flag on her shirt.

“It was just more of me representing the Philippines. It’s something bigger than yourself,” said Pagdanganan.

“I compete in the LPGA but I just feel like it was just me. For the Olympics, it feels like you are chosen to represent and I feel like it’s a bigger responsibility,” added the 26-year-old bet, a member of the gold-winning Philippine team in the 2018 Palembang-Jakarta Asian Games.

From an earlier flight, Pagdanganan ranked as high as fourth until New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe came in untouched by the winds, submitting a 67 and a 70, respectively, to get past the Philippine ace.

Going to the third round, the top five are Metraux at eight-under, China’s Yin Ruoning seven-under, Ko five-under and Uribe and Slovakia’s Pia Babnik both at four-under.

Pagdanganan shares sixth spot with first-day leader Celine Boutier of France, Thai Atthaya Thitikul, Japanese Miyu Yamashita, South African Ashleigh Buhai and Chinese Janet Lin.

Pagdanganan has a job cut out for her as she slugs it out with the best and the challenges offered by the course located over 40 kilometers from the French capital.

She’s been holding her own at least in the first two rounds.

“I was a little nervous about how tough the course will be but after yesterday’s round, I kinda realized that I can handle the challenge that the course brought,” she said.

“I think that helped calm my nerves a little. It also helps that my family is out here to support me. Being able to share this experience with them really means a lot to me,” she added.