Rey Saludar.
Flyweight Rey Saludar won the gold medal at the 16th Asian Games with a hard-fought win over hometown boy Yong Chang by a score of 13-11 although quite a few people at ringside felt Saludar deserved to win by a bigger margin.
Annie Albania wasn’t as lucky and lost a somewhat controversial 5-7 decision to another hometown favorite, two-time World Champion RenCancan also of China.
Albania, a former silver medalist at the International Amateur Boxing Association or AIBA World Championships, cried when she heard the decision and felt she had done enough to win but the hometown advantage was apparently difficult to overcome.
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines president Ricky Vargas told Viva Sports in an overseas telephone conversation that the Asian Games saw the “start of a journey. It’s a long term plan and we sent boxers young enough to gain experience. Their performance brightens our hopes for the future.â€
Vargas said “we are proud of our boxers and our Filipino coaches. Our battle cry is ‘suntok ginto sa Olympics/punch for gold at the Olympicsâ€
The ABAP president thanked PLDT for its support and ALA Promotions boxing patron Tony Aldeguer “for his valuable advice and congressman Tony Floirendo for helping ABAP in its grassroots development program as well as deputy executive director for Mindanao Gene Rose and of course MVP – Manny Pangilinan who is chairman of ABAP and our patron, for believing.â€
With the bronze medal won by 18 year old Victorio Saludar the boxing team finished with 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal.
ito sana ang bigyan ng 1 milyon ni noynoy di na nga nya pinayagan itelevised ang ASIAN games..
KUDOS to REY SALUDAR!
*** All Caps in title not allowed ***
