Phl Paralympian guns for bronze

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippines’ table tennis bet Josephine Medina fell short of a possible shot at the women’s singles Class 8 gold medal in the London Paralympic Games but still keeps a good chance to bring a bronze medal.

Medina, silver medalist in the Guangzhou Asian Paragames, bowed to top seed Thu Kamkasomphou of France in straight sets in Saturday’s semis match, 3-11, 3-11, 8-11, to find herself relegated to the battle for third.

The 42-year-old Pinay was slated to dispute the bronze with Sweden’s Josefin Abrahamsson Sunday night at the ExCeL - North Arena 1 (early Monday in Manila).

“It was a good fight. You could see that the opponent had the advantage over Jojo (Medina) in height and experience. But Jojo fought bravely, did all the tactics possible, but the gold was not meant to be,” said Philippine Sports Association for the Differently-Abled secretary general Butch Weber in a radio interview from London.

Still, Medina is in a position to land a podium finish for a country longing for international glory, especially after the debacle of the abled athletes in the recent Olympics.

“Jojo and the Swedish girl are evenly matched but I’m really confident Jojo will be able to put up a very good show,” Weber said of Medina, who is eyeing to give Phl a first Paralympics medal in 12 years.

Medina is competing in Class 8 table tennis in London. Classes 6 to 10 are for those with a physical impairment but can compete from a standing position. The lower the class, the greater impact of impairment there is on the athlete.

The Philippines first competed in the Paralympics in 1988 in Seoul, and so far has produced only one medal, a bronze by powerlifter Adelina Dumapong in 2000 in Sydney.

In the recent London Olympics, 11 Filipino bets failed to bring home a medal, and now the Philippines is pinning its hopes on the 42-year-old Medina.

Medina won two of her three matches in the preliminaries, beating Aida Dahlen of Norway, 3-1, and Jane Rodriguez of Brazil, 3-0, before losing to China’s Mao Jiangdan, 3-0.

Medina was pitted against Thu Kamkasomphou of France in the semis, but she lost to the gold medal winner in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, 3-0.

Kamkasomphou and Mao, who beat the 32-year-old Abrahamsson in the semis, 3-0, will clash for the gold medal at the ExCel North Arena.

Two of the Filipino powerlifters earlier bombed out of the competition. 

Achelle Guion wound up sixth out of seven entries in the women’s -44 kgs with a lift of 70 kgs, way off the medalists’ lift by at least 30 kilos, while Agustin Kitan fouled on his three attempts at 148 kgs to register a zero in the men’s -52 kgs.

Over in athletics, Roger Tapia clocked 23.74 seconds in the men’s 200m T46, placing third in Heat 2 but not enough to qualify for the next round. He wound up 18th overall among 20 but could make amends when he competes in the men’s 100 T46 on Thursday.

Isidro Vildosola submitted 4:30.32 in Heat 1 of the men’s 1,500m T46, finishing 15th out of 17 competitors in his only event in London.

– Olmin Leyba and Abac Cordero