MANILA, Philippines - Three veteran campaigners and a rookie topped their respective divisions to advance to the round of 16 at the start of the Wushu World Championships at the Ankara Sports Arena in Ankara, Turkey last Monday.
Mixed martial arts practitioner Edward Folayang, Mark Eddiva and 2007 world series bronze medalist Benjie Rivera all won convincingly in their weight classes while 2011 National Games champion Francisco Solis bucked a poor start with a strong finish to mark his debut in the world arena on a winning note.
Going down in weight, Folayang, a 27-year-old teacher from Baguio City, used his experience and ring savvy to oust a Vietnam migrant of France, Hama Jean Luc in the 70 kgs division.
“I think my chances are better in this weight class,” said Folayang, who had to shed off 12 pounds in leaving his usual turf of 75-kg category that is now crowded by China, Iran and a number of European countries.
Eddiva, bronze medal winner in last year’s Guangzhou Asian Games, dominated Ryan Badran of the US, who could not even touch the Filipino in their 65-kg fight.
The head judge, meanwhile, ordered the stoppage of Rivera’s one-sided match against Italian Simeone Lo Presti in the second round that turned out to be the most impressive of the four wins by the Filipino bets in the the 78-nation that drew more than 600 athletes.
Solis, on the other hand, dropped the first round to Azerbaijan’s Rafael Tarverdiyev but came back strong with a barrage of punches in the succeeding round to clinch the win.
Eddiva continues his quest for a medal against Labi Amine of Algeria Tuesday while Rivera takes on Zieb Sliti of Tunisia.
Matches in sanda (formerly sansou) or the full contact discipline of wushu, where competitors are allowed to punch, kick and wrestle an opponent to the ground or even push him out of the elevated arena, are decided via best-of-three rounds. Referees and judges in wushu shun prolonged clinches.