NAGOYA – Away from the madness in this city, Marie June Adriano found her moment.
The 22-year-old karateka fought her way to a bronze in the women’s kumite -50kg at the Toyohashi Gymnasium, 90km southeast of Nagoya, to lift Team Philippines in a rollercoaster day at the 20th Asian Games yesterday.
With just a handful of Filipino supporters in the stands, Adriano proved grit beats the odds, powering past Chinese Taipei’s Ya-chi Chung to deliver the country’s fifth overall medal in this Asiad – second from karate.
“I just focused on doing my best for the country,” Adriano said, draped in the Philippine flag after the win. “This medal is for everyone who believed in me.”
Gold medals are expected in the coming days. Among those in hot pursuit are boxer Junmilardo Ogayre and the Gilas 3x3 teams, with stirring victories yesterday.
But there were painful defeats in sepak takraw, rowing, fencing, baseball and soft tennis, split results in beach volleyball, and small progress from Carlos Yulo and his teammates in the gymnastics overall team championship.
Easily the biggest news was Adriano’s bronze feat – a redemption of sorts for the PUP standout, who also bagged bronze in the same weight category at the 2025 Thailand SEA Games.
Adriano opened her campaign with a 4-3 win over Cambodia’s Srey Phea Chonn, then blanked South Korea’s Yang Yewon, 4-0, to advance to the semifinals. She absorbed a narrow 4-5 loss to Hong Kong’s Tsang Yuet Yung in the Final Four, dropping her to the bronze-medal match where she bounced back.
Her bronze added to the earlier bronze won by the women’s kata team of Samantha Veguillas, Ysabielle Arrogante and Rebecca Torres, marking the country’s best showing in karate since the sport returned to the Asian Games program.
Also away from the Nagoya noise, Ogayre kept the gold hunt alive, punching his way to the quarterfinals of the men’s 51kg class after a unanimous decision win over Mongolia’s Gantumur Lundaa.
“It’s good to be back on winning track after Aira’s loss,” said boxing chief Marcus Manalo on Ogayre’s triumph, which came after Olympic medalist Aira Villegas’ abrupt exit Tuesday.
Gilas 3x3 produced a pair of group play sweeps to blaze into the quarterfinals, a win away from medal play.
The men’s team, led by Nic Cabañero, topped Pool A with a flawless 3-0 card after stunning Asian No. 1 Mongolia, 19-12, ripping Sri Lanka, 21-12, and fending off Kazakhstan, 21-15, at the Kinjo Futo Station Square.
The women’s team of Quinn dela Rosa, Ka Kennan, Amyah Espanol and Maria Pasilang matched the feat in Pool C, sweeping past Mongolia, 17-12, blasting Macau-China, 21-4, and drubbing Malaysia, 17-12.
Ahead of the individual apparatus finals in gymnastics, brothers Carlos and Karl Eldrew Yulo and Juancho Miguel Besana returned to action and registered a sixth-place finish in the team all-around final, a notch up from the qualifying round.
In swimming, Olympian Kayla Sanchez was scratched from the women’s 100m backstroke – a Did Not Start (DNS) – to prioritize recovery for her pet event, the 50m dash. She was also pulled from relay duties.
“We’re controlling what we can control. If we can rest Kayla and prepare her better for 50 meters (today) where she has a very, very good chance of winning gold, we give her rest,” said national coach Ryan Arabejo.
Arabejo said Sanchez is moving on from a close fourth-place finish in the 100m free.
It was a painful day elsewhere – the most stinging was the 1-2 defeat to India that denied the Nationals a place in the medal round in the men’s regu in sepak takraw.
In baseball, the Phl team was dealt a 7-0 spanking by Japan and thus ended with a 1-2 card in Group A after a 12-0 blanking of Palestine and an 8-15 blowout loss to China.
Before the mist lifted at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course, Olympian rower Joanie Delgaco booked her ticket to the medal race of single sculls today.
Paris vet Delgaco placed sixth in the heats in 8:25.47 to advance but the medal hopes of teammates Cris Nievares, Rynjie Penaredondo and Van Adrian Maxilom were gone.
Tokyo Olympian Nievares placed fourth in his heat in the men’s single sculls and dropped to Final B today. Penaredondo and Maxilom finished dead last among nine entries in the men’s pair and were also relegated to Final B.
Another Olympian, fencer, Sam Catantan missed out on a shot at a medal after falling to South Korea’s Jihee Park, 10-15, in the women’s individual foil quarterfinals.