Igorot warrior delivers wushu's second plum

VIENTIANE, Laos – Igorot superstar Mark Eddiva completely outclassed his opponent Tin Lin Aung of Myanmar in a versatile show of kicking, punching and grappling as he won the gold medal in the 65 kg event in the sanshou side of the wushu competition in the 25th Southeast Asian Games yesterday.

Eddiva, from Bontoc, Mt. Province, scored a lopsided 2-0 score with four take-downs that sent his opponent out of the square and came through with solid punches to the head and a roundhouse that flattened the Myanmar bet.

“I’m happy for the win, I thank the Lord for giving me this win,” said Eddiva, 21, an education student from the University of the Cordillera.

A day earlier, Baguio teammate Marianne Mariano, 21-year-old student at Adamson University, defeated Nguyen Thi Oanh of Vietnamn and Douangchai Thalenggliep of Laos to top the three-woman 60 kg event for wushu’s first gold

Chinese coach Yu Fu Liu was all praise for Eddiva who came to the SEA Games from the bloody wars of the URCC Championships where he holds the Visayas title.

“He’s a complete player, he kicks, punches and wrestles well and has mental toughness for the game,” said long-time coach Yu through Filipino interpreter Tony Candelaria, who is behind the resurgence of national wushu experts from Baguio.

The wushu team also won two silver medals from Benjie Rivera in the 56 kg class and Mary Jane Estimar (52kg) and bronze from Jessie Aligaga (48kg), Denver Labrador (60 Kg) and Rifani Rhea Mae (48 kg) and Daniel Parantac (taijijian- taijiquan combined events) of taolu

Rivera lost to Singapore’s Saksunnara, 2-0, in the semifinals while Estimar won over Laotian Toy, 2-0, in the battle for the silver in the single round 52kg class event where only three entries competed.

She lost in the first game to gold medal winner Nguyen Thuy of Vietnam, 2-0. Rifani defeated Hotma Dearma Purba of Indonesia in the first round, but suffered an injury in the quarterfinal. She slipped when she kicked Thai Chutdao Chaimala.

Sensing she was in pain, the Thai gave her a quick kick as she struggled to get up to end the fight. Team doctors said Rifani will go through a six-month rehab after the SEA Games.

Aligaga drew a bye into the quarterfinals where he lost to Vietnamese Trun Van Kien, 3-0. Labrador also took a bye and fought in the quarterfinals, losing to Laotian Boiuapha Valasith, 2-0.

Stephanie Agbay was the only non-medal winner in the nine-member, placing fourth in the taijijian-taijiquan combined event. A top favorite to win the event,Agbay slipped while doing a routine and was out of the medal race.

“Despite the lack of support, we managed to win two gold medals. We will continue with our development program and we now have 15 young players recruited from all over the Philippines to compose our pool for future competitions,” said wushu federation secretary general Julian Camacho.

Host Laos and Vietnam, which sent its athletes to train for six to eight months in China where the sport originated, shared overall honors with four gold medals each.

The wushu team could not send all its top athletes to the Games because of a ruling by the Laos organizers allowing one country to field a maximum of four entries in six men’s events and three entries in four women’s events.

The wushu team won a record 11 gold medals the first time it was held in the Manila.