PH boxer Ladon loses decision to Colombian Martinez in Rio

Filipino boxer Rogen Ladon loses a unanimous decision to Colombia's Yuberjen Martinez in the light flyweight round of 16

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino boxer Rogen Ladon lost a unanimous decision to Colombia's Yuberjen Martinez, ending his campaign at the Rio Olympics in the round of 16 on Monday, August 8 at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 3 judges scored the fight for the 24-year-old from Colombia, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

Ladon, who was seeded to the second round, came out aggressively in round one, firing away with his southpaw lefts while the 24-year-old Martinez looked to counter with his left hooks. By the end of the first round Ladon had begun to back up, looking for space to land his straighter punches.

Martinez, who defeated Brazil's Patrick Lourenco in the round of 32, was the busier fighter throughout the final two rounds as the Bago, Negros Occidental native withered under the torrid pace.

The loss eliminates the second and final boxer from the Rio Olympics after lightweight Charly Suarez dropped a split decision to Joe Cordina of Great Britain in the round of 32. – Rappler.com

Source: Ryan Songalia of Rappler.com

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Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz ends 20-year PH medal drought after bagging silver in Rio Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO - Hidilyn Diaz broke a 20-year medal drought for the Philippines after winning the silver medal in the weightlifting competitions of the XXXI Olympiad.

Diaz lifted a total of 200 kilograms to finish second behind gold medalist Hsu Shu-Ching of Chinese Taipei in the women's 53 kg. class, ending a medal dry spell that dates back to boxer Mansueto 'Onyok' Velasco's silver in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Diaz also became the first ever Filipina, and the first in weightlifting, to land in the Olympic for the country.

The 25-year-old native of native of Zamboanga City previously competed in the 2008 Beijing (wildcard) and 2012 London Olympics but came home empty handed on both campaigns.

This time, there was no denying her.

It was an unlikely turn of events for Diaz, who was actually about to settle for the bronze since fancied Li Yaun of China, who just moments earlier set an Olympic record in the snatch after lifting 101 kilograms, still has two attempts left in the clean and jerk.

But to the horror of the crowd at the Riocentro Pavilion 2, Li couldn’t complete her final two attempts at 126 kilos, thus eliminating her from a podium finish.

Shu-Ching won the gold convincingly with a total lift of 212 kgs. or 12 kgs. ahead of Diaz.

The Filipina actually had a slow start when she only lifted 88 kilos in the snatch to finish fifth at the halfway mark of the competition.

Li quickly showed the way following her record breaking feat at 101 kgs, followed by Shu-Ching with 100.

But Diaz bounced back in the clean and jerk, lifting 112 kilos on her second try to surpass third-running Yoon Jun Hee of South Korea and assure herself of a podium finish.

“Thank you, Lord,” she shouted shortly after.

Hsu lifted 112 kg on her second try and didn’t even bother to lift a third try following the disastrous finish by the Chinese lifter.

Hsu is now looking to claim the gold medal from the London Games four years ago. The Taiwanese champion called on Olympic officials to decide on the matter, after retest of samples from 2012 Olympics winner Zulfiya Chinshanlo turned out positive.

The Kazakh lifter was suspended in June and was not entered in Rio.

Source: Jerome Ascano of Spin.ph

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WATCH: Hidilyn Diaz' Silver-winning performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics!

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Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz nabs silver, PH's first Olympic medal in 20 years

Hidilyn Diaz ends a 20-year Olympic medal drought for the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – On her third Olympics trip, she finally did it.

Hidilyn Diaz made history for the Philippines, ending the country's 20-year Olympic medal drought by securing a silver medal in the women's 53kg weightlifting division of the 2016 Summer Games on Sunday, August 7 (Monday morning, August 8 in Manila) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 25-year-old Diaz, a native of Zamboanga City, who was a bronze medalist in the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships, recorded a total weight of 200.

In the snatch event, Diaz failed to lift two of her 3 attempts and tallied just 88kg for 6th place in a tough field led by China and Chinese Taipei.

But Diaz, looking very comfortable and optimistic on the platform, recovered in the clean and jerk lift, successfully lifting 111kg in the first attempt and then snagging the medal with a 112kg lift in her second attempt.

She tried to clear 117kg in her third attempt but was unable to lift it. Her total score is 200, just good enough for second place.

Fellow weightlifter Nestor Colonia will be competing by 6am Manila time in the men's 56kg. – Jane Bracher of Rappler.com

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Charly Suarez ends Olympic debut in tatters with split decision loss to Joe Cordina

RIO DE JANEIRO – The Philippines lost one of its best bets for a medal in the XXXI Olympiad as Charly Suarez went down against Joe Cordina of Great Britain by split decision Saturday night (Sunday, Manila time) at the Riocentro Convention Center here.

Suarez and Cordina headed into the third and final round of their 60 kg fight tied at 1-1. and went toe-to-toe against each other for the next three minutes.

Using his three-inch advantage in height and a longer reach, the 24-year-old British, a European Amateur Championship gold medalist, got the better of most exchanges to emerge the winner and advance into the next round.

Final score was 2-1.  

Suarez won on the scorecard of the judge from Turkey, but the judges from Morocco and Uzbekistan had it for Cordina, 28-29, and 30-27, respectively.

The native of Sawata, Davao del Norte, cheered on by a boisterous Filipino crowd at the gallery, thought he won his Olympic debut.

“Tingin niya panalo (din) siya,” coach Nolito ‘Boy’ Velasco quoted Suarez as saying. "Sabi ko nung last round bombahin niya na kasi baka madaya pa tayo.”

The exit of the 27-year-old Suarez leaves light-flyweight Rogen Ladon as the country’s best hope of ending a 20-year medal drought. The native of Bago City, Negros Occidental drew an opening day bye.

The tough loss by Suarez capped a rather disappointing day for the 13-man Philippine contingent here, which began with the loss of Ian Lariba in women’s table tennis, followed by the elimination of swimmer Jessie Khing Lacuna in the heat of the men’s 400m freestyle.

For a while, Suarez appeared ready to end the Filipinos’ series of misfortunes after offsetting a slow start with a good counter-punching style and swarming all over Cordina to take the second round and level the score, paving the way for the all-out action in the final round.

But the Briton wisely kept his distance against the Filipino by using his long arms to score on jabs and combinations. It was obvious who the dominant fighter was as all three judges gave the round to Cordina.

Source: Jerome Ascano of Spin.ph

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PH flag-bearer Ian Lariba bows out of Olympics after loss to Congo's Han Xing in Rio opener

RIO DE JANEIRO—Ian Lariba bowed out in her first match, losing to Han Xing of Congo, 11-7, 13-11, 11-9, 11-7, on Saturday morning (Saturday night, Manila time) in the table tennis women’s singles of the Olympics.

Lariba had a competitive match against Han but couldn’t pull off a set victory to end her Olympic stint just after carrying the Philippine flag in the parade of nations.

Source: Jerome Ascano of Spin.ph

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