Last RP bet foiled; China reigns

Powerhouse China bulldozed its way to a fourth gold medal by winning the men’s sabre event, taking out top RP bet Wally Mendoza in the process yesterday at the end of all individual events in the Sharp Asian Fencing Championships at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Despite sending only its juniors squad, the Chinese proved they could compete with their older foes with Zhong Man and Cai Lin edging their Iranian opponents to set up an all-Chinese finals that virtually ensured them of a fourth gold medal in this eight-day event sponsored by Sharp.

Zhong broke out from a 13-all tie to turn back Mojtaba Abedini, 15-13, while Cai pummeled another Iranian, Pelman Fakhri Dehaghi, 15-10, to add another golden finish to its long list of triumphs courtesy of Tan Li (women’s epee), Zhu Jun (men’s foil) and Su Wanwen (women’s foil).

Cai’s victims included the 24-year-old Mendoza, who gave it his best against the top-ranked Chinese before losing a close 12-15 duel in the round-of-16 that extended the Filipinos’ run of misfortunes in this meet organized by the Philippine Amateur Fencing Association (PAFA) headed by Celso Dayrit.

Mendoza, who was a point away from making the finals of this same event in the Asia-Oceania Olympic qualifier early this week, was ranked ninth after the pooling stage to draw a first round bye, downed Lee Guk Hyeon, 15-10, in the round-of-32 before crossing Cai’s path the next round.

Gian Carlo Nocom and Edward Daliva also made the direct eliminations with impressive stints in the pooling stage that earned them first round byes before dropping their respective assignments in a pair of hard-fought contests.

Ranked ahead of Mendoza in the pooling stage at eighth, Nocom was touted to make it big in the main draw but bowed to Majed Al Mouallad of Saudi Arabia, 12-15, while Daliva fell to Bui Trung Dung of Southeast Asian rival Vietnam, 13-15.

Edmund Velez, the last of the country’s entries, did not make the cut.

RP’s bets in the women’s side fared no better than their men’s counterpart as only Wendy Mendoza, the lowest ranked among the four lady RP participants, passed through the direct eliminations.

Mendoza, however, did not survive the Chinese juggernaut as she was manhandled by Chen Yanhong, who placed sixth in last year’s edition of this event held in Bangkok, Thailand, in a one-sided 2-15 contest.

Joanna Franquelli, who represented the country in the Asia-Oceania Olympic qualifier in women’s sabre, won only once in the pooling stage, the same fate suffered by teammates Jinky Naval and Veena Nuestro.

Action resumes today at the opening of the team events starting in epee where Armand Bernal is expected to lead a squad composed of Avelino Victorino and Wilfredo and Almario Vizcayno.

The RP women‚s team is bannered by Harleen Orendain, Roberta Gonzales, Melly Joyce Angeles and Lorena San Diego.