Some relief with a silver
Eala provides push with bronze
HANGZHOU – Grizzled wushu artist Arnel Mandal bowed to China’s Haidong Jiang in the men’s final of the 56kg sanda Thursday but had the great privilege of giving Team Philippines its first silver medal in the 19th Asian Games here.
It was enough reason to cheer for the Filipinos on a day Alex Eala’s strong campaign in the women’s individual tennis came to a screeching halt when she lost to Zheng Qinweng, another Chinese bet, in the semis.
Eala, who looked so good in her first three matches, gave the world No. 23 and quarterfinalist in this year’s US Open a big scare, especially in the marathon second set, which the left-handed Filipina won in an hour and seven minutes.
Zheng took the opening set, lost three match points in the second and was dragged into a deciding third. There, Eala slowly faded after a steady start and eventually took a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6 defeat to settle for the bronze.
For a while, Eala, with a world ranking of 190, looked headed to a stunning upset of the tournament’s top seed. But she must have spent so much of her energy in the second set where she proved that she could handle a player of such caliber.
Zheng won the match with a forehand then faced the cheering home crowd with her arms spread in the air at the world class Hangzhou Olympic Sports Tennis Centre.
Later in the day, the 18-year-old Eala returned to court for the mixed doubles quarterfinals. She teamed up with Francis Casey Alcantara in a 6-4, 6-4 win over Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum and Maximus Parapol Jones for a spot in the semis and a guaranteed bronze.
Silver lining
Back to wushu, the 27-year-old Mandal, from Iloilo, vowed to do everything he could in the battle for the gold. But he met a more superior
