PARA Swimming: Bronze each for PH tankers Gawilan, Bejino in Hangzhou

National para swimmers Ernie Gawilan and Gary Bejino produced a pair of third-place finishes last Monday night for the country’s first medals at the start of the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games swimming championships at the Hangzhou Olympic Center Aquatic Arena.

Aiming to defend the first of three titles he won in the 2018 edition in Jakarta, Indonesia, the legless Gawilan clocked two minutes and 52.82 seconds in checking in third behind two formidable Chinese foes, who both swam with one arm and two legs.

Huang Xianquan clocked 2:48.34 to pocket the gold while compatriot Yang Huaqiang (2:50.73) settled for silver in the event in front of a banner hometown crowd at the ultra-modern 6,000-seat facility.

A Tokyo Paralympic Games veteran like Gawilan, Bejino , who lost one arm and one leg after being electrocuted at a young age, also had to play third wheel behind two Chinese bets, copping the bronze with a time of 1:12. 76 in the men’s 100-meter freestyle S6 finals.

He was able to foil a possible 1-2-3 Chinese, relegating Tang Qian to fourth place by a touch (1:12.85) after Tang had beaten the Filipino earlier in the heats of the stint backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

“Hindi ko man po na-depensa ang event ko, nagpapasalamat na rin ako na nakagbigay ako ng unang medalya muli sa bayan sa Asian Para Games,” said Gawilan, who hopes to recover in time for the heats of the men’s 400-freestyle Tuesday morning.

A bright spot was the national para chess team, which opened its campaign in the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games on a promising note Monday as the men’s and women’s PI (physically impaired) chessers won all of their three matches in the first round of the standard events.

Competing at the Hangzhou Qi-Yuan Chess Hall, FIDE Master Sander Severino led the way in beating Mongolia’s Sundui Sonom while Henry Roger Lopez and Jasper Rom beat Thailand’s Padu Srikpadee and Yoo Khoonme, respectively.

Cheyzer Cristal Mendoza bannered the women’s squad in outplaying Indonesia’s Yuni, Cheryl Angot beat Kyrgyzstan’s Dariaa Kuraidanarova and Jean Lee-Nacita topped China’s Zhang Yue on the distaff side.

On the other hand, the players in the men’s B1 and B2 and women’s B1 posted 2-1 win-loss records in their opening round matches in the stint supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Edwin Villanueva was swallowed in the wake of superior opposition, winding up eighth and last in the men’s 400-meter freestyle S8 finals in a time of 6:11.28.

A double gold medalist in the last Cambodia ASEAN Para Games, Bejino finished a close second in the first heat behind China’s Tang Qian (1:12.6) and was No. 4 behind Tang and two other hometown bets, Luo Jinbiao (1:09.80) and Jia Hongguang (1:12.11), who were 1-2, respectively.

Ernie Gawilan splashes his way to a bronze medal in the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games swimming meet Monday night at the HOC Aquatic Arena.( PSC Media Pool)