TWO UST Tiger Jins representing the Philippines reaped one gold and one bronze medal in the 2023 World Combat Games poomsae tournament held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from Oct. 28 to 30.
Tiger Jin Darius Venerable clinched the country’s third gold medal on the final day of the event after ruling the men’s individual freestyle poomsae competition with his 9.280-point performance.
Venerable, the world No. 4 in freestyle poomsae, outperformed world No. 3 Lee Namhun of South Korea, who tallied 9.200 points. Singapore’s Darren Zong-Han and Spain’s Manuel Paz Romero shared the bronze as they earned 9.100 and 8.860 points, respectively.
Jiu-jitsu fighter Kaila Napolis took home the first gold medal of the Philippines after downing France’s Anael Pannetier in the finals of the women’s -52kg Ne-Waza event, 2-0, while the duo of Rhichien Yosorez and Kylie Mallari bagged the country’s second gold medal in the mixed Mai Muay event.
In the mixed pair freestyle event, Tiger Jin Kobe Macario teamed up with Juvenile Crisostomo to finish third with 8.820 points.
Spain’s duo of Manuel Paz Romero and Barbara Di Martino Fermin, which tallied 8.440 points, shared the bronze medal with Macario and Crisostomo.
South Korea’s tandem of Park Seung-jin and Song Kyeong-seon topped the event with their 9.020-point output while Ching-Tung Huang and Hsin-Ya Chen of Chinese Taipei settled for silver with 8.860 points.
The Philippines finished in 20th place with a 3-5-5 gold-silver-bronze medal tally.
Venerable, Macario and Crisostomo were bronze medalists in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games.
The World Combat Games is an international multi-sport festival that features various combat sports and martial arts competitions, sports demonstrations and educational conferences hosted by leading martial arts experts. This year’s edition saw almost 1,700 top athletes from over 80 participating countries.
