Aligaga, Arcita bag sanda gold

ANKARA, Turkey – Filipino sanda (sanshou) fighters Jessie Aligaga and Dembert Arcita went unbeaten to the end of the 11th Wushu World Championships here, affirming the Philippines’ stature as a major force in this demanding combat sport.

Aligaga and Arcita scored sensational wins inside the distance in the finals to put the exclamation point in Team Philippines’ splendid showing in the meet gathering the cream of wushu artists from around the world.

The Philippines wound up third best performer behind China and Iran with a medal harvest of two golds, two silvers and three bronzes.

Aligaga and Arcita, both from Iloilo, shone brightest with their gold-medal finishes.

Aligaga stopped Armenian Davit Grigoryan in the second round of the 48kgs final match while Arcita disposed of Vietnamese Tu Hong Hoang in the third round of the 52kgs final.

“Our hard work paid off,” said Aligaga, emerging triumphant with his good punching and wrestling skills.

“I just gave it all. My teammates helped me along with their cheers,” said Arcita, an enlisted Navy man.

The two also gave credit to their Chinese coach Tong Quing Hai.

Aligaga expressed sadness he can’t vie for honors in the coming Southeast Asian Games with his weight class scrapped from the roster of events by the hosts.

Settling for silvers were Marianne Mariano and Mary Jane Estimar who yielded to Chinese aces Qui Tiao and Liu Lingling in the 52kgs and 56kgs finals.

Rhea Mae Rifani won the bronze in the 48kgs class Thursday.

The nine-man sanda squad produced two other bronze medals courtesy of Mark Eddiva (65kgs) and Benjie Rivera (56kgs).

The female trio of Natasha Enriquez, Kathleen Sabalburo and Kariza Chan placed fifth among 10 bets in taolu while male counterparts John Keithley Chan, Eleazar Jacob and Engelbert Addongan were sixth out of 15 in the dulian event.

Daniel Parantac grabbing a bronze averted a medal shutout for the taolu group.