Nasungkit ng Team Philippines ang unang ginto sa 6th Asian Beach Games matapos magwagi si jiu-jitsu fighter Alexandria Enriquez, 5-0, laban sa South Korean Yeonji Lee sa women’s 63kg final Hwebes sa Sanya Bay Yuhai Club sa Hainan, China.
Si Enriquez, na naka-base na sa Amerika, ay nasa unang paglahok sa multi-sport event para sa Philippines.
Nag-umpisa ang araw ni Enriquez na may magkasunod na panalo sa pamamagitan ng submission laban sa mga katunggali mula China at Thailand.
Sinundan ito ng advantage win sa semifinal laban kay Shamma Alkalbani ng United Arab Emirates upang makarating sa gold medal match.
“I feel so much pride and joy. I mean first of all all glory to God. I was born in the Philippines. We immigrated to the States when I was a very young child, six years old, and to be able to come back, you know, and experience it as an adult and to be able to be a part of something much larger than I am is such a great honor,” ani Enriquez.
Na-una ng kumuha ng medalya si Kaila Napolis matapos talunin si Zhibek Kulumbetova ng Kazakhstan sa bronze medal match.
“Sobrang nakakakaba. Kasi bawal magkamali (It’s scary. No room for mistakes). With overtime, the first to have an advantage na ‘yung mananalo. So, super tight talaga ng laban (will win. So, the fight was super tight),” ani Napolis.