Arnel Roa Mandal of the Philippines (blue) beats Van Huong Dinh of Vietnam (red) during the semi final round in SEA Games Wushu Sanda event held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City on December 2, 2019. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File.
Wushu's Arnel Mandal has a chance to win the Philippines' first gold medal of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
This, after he defeated Avazbek Amanbekov of Kyrgyzstan, 2-0, in the semifinals of the men's 56kg class in sanda (wushu) on Wednesday at the XSG Sports Centre.
However, Mandal will face tall odds in the finals as he is up against home bet Jiang Haidong of China. Jiang dominated his own semis match against Vietnam's Hua Van Doan, 2-0.
Another Filipino fighter, Clemente Tabugara Jr., will go home with a bronze medal after a 2-0 loss to Indonesia's Samuel Marbun in the semis of the 65kg division.
Meanwhile, Gideon Fred Padua is also a bronze medalist in the men's 60kg division after he reached the semis. The national wushu federation opted to forfeit his match against Shoja Panahigelehkolaei of Iran "in order to minimize the risk of further injury."
Padua and Tabugara's achievements mean that the Philippines now has four medals in the Asiad, all bronzes.
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