By el Amigo
MANILA — A silver medal from jiu-jitsu fighter Alexandria Enriquez pushed Team Philippines to 29 medals in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, allowing the country to surpass its overall medal haul from the 2023 edition in Hangzhou.
Enriquez finished second in the women’s 63-kilogram division after falling to Thailand’s Orapa Senatham in the championship bout.
Her silver gave the Philippines a medal breakdown of four golds, nine silvers and 16 bronzes.
The 29-medal haul is already 11 more than the 18 medals won by the Philippines in Hangzhou in 2023.
The Philippine delegation collected four golds, two silvers and 12 bronzes in Hangzhou. In Nagoya, the country has matched its gold-medal production while adding seven more silvers and four additional bronzes.
Jeus Gabriel Yape delivered the latest gold for Team PH by winning the mixed individual virtual taekwondo competition, giving the Philippines its fourth gold of the Games.
Yape joined Carlos Yulo, who won two gymnastics golds, and EJ Obiena, who retained his pole vault crown with an Asian Games-record 5.91-meter clearance, among the country’s gold medalists.
Other Filipino medalists came from boxing, jiu-jitsu, archery, weightlifting, athletics, sepak takraw, beach volleyball, taekwondo, karate, soft tennis and other events.
The Philippine women’s softball team, meanwhile, ended its campaign without a medal after losing 12-2 to Chinese Taipei in the bronze-medal game.
The Blu Girls placed fourth, the same finish they recorded in the previous three Asian Games.
As the Games enter their final stretch, Team Philippines stands at 29 medals and has already secured its biggest Asian Games medal haul since 1962.
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