SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (2nd UPDATE)—The Philippines wrapped up the Southeast Asian Games Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition with a couple of victories on Tuesday.
Annie Ramirez and Adrian Guggenheim made it all the way to the finals of their respective divisions to clinch the gold in front of the home crowd here at Laus Group Events Center.
Ramirez, a gold medalist in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, scored an easy win in the semifinals before gutting out a tough 2-0 win against Malaysia’s Cassandra J Poyong in the women’s -55 kg finals.
“Ito ’yung pinaka-sweetest sa lahat ng panalo, kasi dito sa sarili nating lupa," said Ramirez.
“Sabi nga ni coach, dumayo sila rito para dito tayo talunin pero hindi. Ipinaglaban pa rin po natin ang bansa natin.”
Guggenheim, for his part, capped a splendid run by completing an armbar maneuver against Willy of Indonesia in the finals. This allowed him to wrest the men's -77 kg title.
“We came in here confident in our preparation and confident in our game,” said Guggenheim. “We’re so honored to be making being the first people representing the Philippines in jiu-jitsu in SEA Games. It’s the first time for jiu-jitsu in the SEA Games.”
This brought the country’s gold medal count in jiu-jitsu to 5.
Meggie Ochoa led the Philippines’ charge on Monday by winning the women’s -45 kg gold, while Dean Roxasn and Carlo Pena also came away with the title in the men’s -85 kg and -56 kg, respectively.
Also on Tuesday, Luigi Ladera took a silver after losing on points to Natdanai Netthip of Thailand in the men’s -94 kg finals, 3-0.
Apryl Eppinger won a bronze after her loss to Tiannen Constance Lien in the women’s -62 kg semis. Lawrence Meinban likewise settled for third place, too, in the men’s -120 kg finals.
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