By REYNALD MAGALLON
BANGKOK — Dean Roxas and Kimberly Custodio delivered the third and fourth golds for Team Philippines after reigning supreme in their respective weight classes in the jiu-jitsu ne-waza at the Navaminda Kasatrihiraj Air Force Academy, Thursday, Dec. 11 here.
Roxas made quick work of Singaporean rival Ee Aacu Huo Yuvia, winning via submission in the men’s 85-kilogram finals while Custodio took down hometown bet Sugun Nutchaya, 3-0 as the copped two gold for the Philippine jiu jitsu team after only getting one bronze in the opening day.
“I really liked submissions from that position. I just made sure that I got my position quick so that I could capitalize on their mistakes. And I’m just waiting for him to make a mistake and of course, who doesn’t want to finish with a submission for the country so this one’s for Pilipinas,” said Roxas.
“Sobrang saya ko. Grabe yung support ng mga Pilipino dito sobrang na overwhelm ako. And then sobrang happy ako na nagbunga ang mga paghihirap ko at ng mga taong nagtitiwala sa akin at nags support,” added Custodio.
Aside from the two golds, the jiu jitsu team has now added a silver courtesy of Yman Xavier Baluyo who lost to Dang Dinh Tung in the men’s ne-waza 69kg finals.
Kaila Napolis, Marc Alexander Lim and Vito Luzuriaga, on the other hand, bagged bronze medals in their respective weight classes.
Kayla Sanchez reset the meet record in the women’s 50m backstroke, clocking 28.57 seconds to top the preliminary heats and break the previous record of 28.89 Masniari Wolf of Indonesia set just two years ago in the meet’s edition in Cambodia.
The 24-year-old tanker is vying for another swimming gold in the finals being held at presstime at the SAT Swimming Pool.
In taekwondo kyorugi (combat), Clarence Sarza defeated Indonesia’s Ni Kadek Heni Prikasih to advance to the gold medal round in the women’s 49kg class while Tokyo Games veteran Kurt Barbosa settled for bronze after dropping to Vietnam;s Nguyen Hong Trong in the men’s 54kg.
