Tennis princess Alex Eala ends long PH medal drought in #19thAsianGames;
Wushu fighter Padua pulls out of semis bout due to an injury; Didal fails to defend #19thAsianGames street event title
Wushu fighter Padua pulls out of semis bout due to an injury; Didal fails to defend #19thAsianGames street event title
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00:00 Tennis sensation Alex Ayala gives Filipinos something to cheer about as she ends the country's long metal drought in this year's Asian Games
00:09 with a victory against her Japanese opponent.
00:12 This and other stories in tonight's Asian Games Wrap by Dennis Principe.
00:16 P19 tennis sensation Alex Ayala has ended the country's metal drought in the Asian Games.
00:25 Today, the 18-year-old Ayala beat Japan's Kyoka Okamura, love 675 and 6Love, to advance to the semifinals of the ongoing 19th Asiad in Hangzhou, China.
00:38 With this final-four stint, Ayala has assured herself of at least a bronze medal, ending the metal drought of Team Philippines in the quadrennial meet.
00:48 The Philippines last won a medal in the 2006 edition of the Games held in Doha, Qatar, when Cecil Mameet bagged two bronze medals, one in men's singles and another in doubles event together with Eric Taino.
01:03 Ayala will also become the first Filipina to bring home an Asiad medal since 1966, when Desideria Ampon and Patricia Inayo became the last women tennis players from the Philippines to earn Asian Games medals.
01:19 The 2022 US Open girls champion Ayala will eye a stint in the finals when she faces top seed Qin Wenzheng of China this Thursday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Tennis Center.
01:33 In other Asian Games news, the Wushu Federation of the Philippines has decided to pull out Gideon Padua in his men's 60kg semifinals match due to an injury.
01:45 Padua was scheduled to battle Shodja Panahigilekolae of Iran today, with the winner advancing to the gold medal round. Padua, though, will end this Asian Games stint by bringing home a bronze medal.
01:59 Meantime, Olympian Marjeline Didal faltered in the finals of Skateboarding's street event, finishing dead last among eight finalists.
02:08 Didal, the gold winner during the 2018 Asiad in Indonesia, is coming off an 11-month layoff because of an ankle injury.
02:17 13-year-old Chinese Chen Jiqui won the skateboarding gold to the delight of a hometown crowd at the QT Roller Sports Center.
02:27 Dennis Principe, for The Nation.