IN GOD WE TRUST
11th Asia-Oceania Sambo C’ship…SY, TORRES EYE GOLD MEDALS
DEFENDING champion Sydney Sy and world-ranked Jomary Torres beat their separate foes in contrasting fashion to enter the finals of their respective events in the 11th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships presented by the Philippine Sports Commission yesterday.
SPORTS
By Abby Pamplona
6/27/20262 min read
DEFENDING champion Sydney Sy and world-ranked Jomary Torres beat their separate foes in contrasting fashion to enter the finals of their respective events in the 11th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships presented by the Philippine Sports Commission yesterday.
Not wanting to disappoint her hometown fans watching at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Sy sweated just enough to overturn New Zealand’s Lilly Houben 5-0 in the women’s sports sambo +80-kilogram division semifinals
Sy will seek to retain her crown when she goes up against Kazakhstan’s Arailym Abenova, the 2021 edition champ in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, who forced Mongolia’s Sarangoo Ganbold to tap out barely seconds into their own semis match for the gold later last night.
Ranked No. 7 in the world, Torres held off Kyrgyzstan’s Dilbara Raimzhanova 7-2 in the women’s 50kg combat sambo semifinals to also remain in the hunt for gold in the meet held under the aegis of the National Sports Tourism Interagency Committee.
Torres will take on Kazakhstan’s Daidry Paiyz, who whipped Mongolia’s Erdenet-od Byambajav of the other semis in the competition organized by the Pilipinas Sambo Federation Inc. and backed by Victory Liner.
The Philippines earned another silver late Friday night from newcomer Christine Angelic Espolong, who absorbed 0-8 beating at the hands of Kazak Zarina Yergen in the women’s combat sambo 59kg division.
“This was an amazing experience for me despite the loss. I truly enjoyed although I only had two weeks to prepare for the match,” Espolong, whose original combat sport is muay thai, said.
After sizing up her opponent, Sy finally made her move in winning her first point early in the five-minute match before pinning down Houben around 3:09 into the bout, good for four points, in padding her lead.
The New Zealander desperately tried to turn the tide in trying to wrestle her rival to the ground, but the Filipina grappler used her experienced while using her weight to wriggle out of danger the way in accomplishing the win.
On the other hand, Torres struck telling blows and had pinned down her Kyrgyz opponent to build an imposing 7-0 lead only to see Raimzhanova counter with her own strikes in the latter part of the match to score five straight points in an effort to come back and prevail.
Torres wisely evaded her rallying rival in the waning seconds to preserve the win.
Defending champion Sydney Sy (left) grapples with New Zealand’s Lilly Houben in their women’s sport sambo +80kg semifinal match in the 11th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium yesterday.
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