Like the squeeze play they had been doing on territorial seas not their own, China bullied the opposition in the recently concluded Japan Asiad. Host Japan and South Korea followed, which had been the usual placement in the Asian Games as long as I can remember.
Thailand, at 7th, was the highest ranked ASEAN nation during the Games, confirming their status as Southeast Asia’s sporting powerhouse. PH athletes finished 17th, the same finish we did during the 2023 Hangzhou Games.
We had the same four gold medals as the last Games courtesy EJ Obiena, two from Carlos Yulo and one from Jeus Gabriel Yape of virtual taekwondo. The overall medal tally (29) was significantly better than the 18 we had in 2023 meaning more sporting disciplines had produced results. This was the best medal finish the country had since the 1966 Asiad in Bangkok, Thailand.
With players wearing VR headsets, virtual TKD had its first world championships in 2024 and made its debut in a major multi-sport event in the 2026 Asiad. Because it is non-contact and driven by digital tracking, the playing field is leveled, eliminating weight classes that allows men and women to compete against each other. Yape made history for the country by winning the first gold medal in virtual TKD.
Despite the consequences of a monetary fine and ranking penalties for skipping a mandatory WTA tournament, the country’s most popular athlete went on to wear the Philippine colors anyway. Alex Eala failed to win the tennis gold but said there were no regrets with the bronze medal finish. Maybe at Doha 2030.
In all fairness to team sports, there were modest expectations, except for the over-hyped and overly funded Gilas who, wave after wave, were brutally rammed and drowned by guess who. Finishing 9th, it was the lowest ever finish in the Asiad, worse than the 7th place during the 2014 Asiad at Incheon, Korea.
With the addition of the first Asian Refugee Team composed of two Syrian TKD athletes who trained in a refugee camp in Jordan, a total of 46 delegations participated. At least our 17th place finish placed us on the upper half of the field.
Doha is four years away. It would be better if stakeholders could focus more on potential medal-winning disciplines and pour their resources on them.