The Philippine equestrian team opened their Asian Games stint with a rousing start, bringing hopes of medal finishes in this sport Sunday at the Dream Park in Incheon.
Equestrienne Joker Arroyo on top of Didi de Goedereede is tied for first place among twelve other riders in her first stint in individual jumping with a flawless ride.
Martin Diego Lorenzo, on top of H.S. Contino, and Marie Antoinette Leviste, on top of Maximillian, are tied at thirteenth place with one time penalty apiece.
As a team, the trio comes at third place after the first round with the two time penalties of Lorenzo and Leviste.
They are behind joint first placers Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which have not incurred penalties in the first round.
The riders will compete in the second round later this afternoon at 1 P.M., Incheon time.
The last time the Philippines won a medal in this event was in 2002, also in South Korea, with Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski winning the gold medal in individual jumping.
Meanwhile, the Filipinos crashed their medal hopes in two semifinals.
In athletics, runners Edgardo Alejan and Archand Christian Bagsit failed to qualify in their respective men’s 400 meter run heats Saturday night.
Alejan clocked in 47.07 seconds to place sixth in heat two while Bagsit clocked in 47.56 seconds to place last in heat one. The top four finishers in each heat qualify for the finals.
In canoeing, Hermie Macaranas was a mere 0.02 seconds away from qualifying in a photo finish in the semifinals in the men’s 1,000 meter race.
Tajikistan’s Shahriyor Daminov, who placed third in the heat, clocked in four minutes and 22.68 seconds for the last ticket in the finals while Macaranas clocked in four minutes, 22.70 seconds for last place in heat one.
Later this afternoon, lady boxers Josie Gabuco and Nhesty Petecio will try to punch their way in the semifinals while Olympian Mark Barriga will battle Japan’s Tosho Kashiwasaki in the light flyweight round of 16.
The flyweight Gabuco, the reigning AIBA world champion in her division, will battle Vietnamese Le Thi Bang while the lightweight Petecio will battle Yin Junhua of China.
