Catantan bows out in Asiad Women's Foil Quarterfinals

c/o POC/PSC Media

Filipino fencers absorbed tough defeats in the 20th Asian Games with Olympian Sam Catantan crashing out after yielding to South Korea’s Park Jihee, 15-10, in the quarterfinals of women’s individual foil event on Wednesday at the Aichi Sky Expo on Wednesday.

Fighting through tears, the 24-year-old fencer kept her head held high.

“I’m really proud with how I fenced today. Up to the end, I did not give up. So I’m very proud of that. Unfortunately, it’s sports, it could go either way,” Catantan said.

Hoping to learn from her Asian Games journey, Catantan is looking to improve moving forward.

“One of my main goals for this tournament is to see where I’m at currently and work after to be better and to hopefully get better results for the upcoming Olympic qualifying season,” she said.

“Every competition, the key takeaway is to never give up, aim for better results, and work harder,” she added.

Christian Jhester Concepcion and Eunice Daniel Villanueva bowed to their respective opponents in men’s individual sabre.

Concepcion bowed to Iran’s Mohammad Fotouhi Firozabad, 7-15, in the round of 16 while Villanueva lost to Saudi Arabia’s Adel Mukhlid Almutairi, 9-15, in the round of 32.

Catantan’s younger sister, Janna, fell to Singapore’s Maxine Jie Xin Wong, 2-15, in the round of 32 of the women’s individual foil event.

Four more fencers will compete on Thursday—Jian Miguel Bautista and Noelito Jose Jr. in men’s épée and Jylyn Nicanor and Queen Denice Dalmacio in women’s sabre individual events.

Adriano nets a second karate bronze for the Philippines in Asiad

c/o POC/PSC Media

Marie June Adriano  delivered the Philippines’ second karate medal at the 20th Asian Games after capturing bronze in the women’s kumite -50kg division on Wednesday.

Adriano, 22, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Ya-chi Chung, 10-3, in the bronze medal match to secure her first Asian Games medal.

The Filipino karateka, a first-timer in the Asian Games, had earlier beaten Cambodia’s Srey Phea Chonn, 4-3, and South Korea’s Yang Yewon, 4-0, before falling narrowly to Hong Kong’s Tsang Yee Ting, 5-4, in the semifinals.

The bronze-medal victory was particularly significant for Adriano, who was competing internationally at the Asian Games for the first time.

She also had added motivation against Chung, having lost to the same opponent in their previous two meetings. Adriano said she reviewed their past encounters and made the necessary adjustments before the deciding bout.

“Pangatlong beses na po naming nagharap,” said Adriano, recalling their previous meetings.

Adriano, a Human Kinetics student at PUP and a native of Llanera in Nueva Ecija, credited her training, technique and her coach’s confidence for helping her stay composed during the bronze-medal match.

“Mas nagtiwala po ako sa technique ko, sa kung ano yung baon ko, kung ano yung trinain ko para sa competition na ito,” she said.

She also recalled her coach’s reminder to stay in the middle and wait for the right opportunity to attack.

“Sa atin na ito, sa amin na ito. Kailangan ko lang mag-work,” Adriano said.

The medal capped a breakthrough run for the young karateka, who said she was grateful for the opportunity to represent the Philippines.

“Super laking bagay niya para sa akin. As a first-timer, talagang yung pressure, nandoon lahat,” Adriano said. “Sobrang happy po ako na isa ako sa napili at nakapagbigay ako ng medalya para sa Pilipinas.”
Adriano’s bronze gave the Philippines its second karate medal of the Games and its fifth medal overall.

A day earlier, the Philippine women’s kata team of Rebecca Cyril Torres, Samantha Emmanuelle Veguillas and Ysabielle Arrogante also secured a bronze medal.

Ogayre ekes split decision win in Asiad boxing

c/o POC/PSC Media

Junmilardo Ogayre steadied the Philippine boxing team with a gritty 3-2 split decision over Mongolia's Gantumur Lundaa on Wednesday, a day after a loss by Paris Olympian Aira Villegas.

Ogayre, 27, advanced to the men's 60-kilogram next round against Nepal's Roka Magar after surviving a standing eight-count in the final round at Nishio Gymnasium in Nishio City, 50 kilometers south of Nagoya.

Lundaa pressed from the opening bell, crowding Ogayre and pinning him to the ropes. Ogayre countered with jabs and clean inside shots to take the first two rounds on four of five judges' cards, building the cushion he needed.

Lundaa continued to come forward in the third and forced the referee to issue a standing eight-count against Ogayre.

The Mongolian took the final round 10-9 on all five cards, but Ogayre held on for Team Philippines supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission.

Judges from Guatemala, Bulgaria and Argentina scored for Ogayre, while judges from Uzbekistan and Mauritius scored for Lundaa.

The result moved the Philippine boxing team to 2-1, with Norlan Petecio delivering the team's first win before Villegas dropped her opener in the women's 51kg class.

Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio (women's 60kg) and Carlo Paalam (men's 55kg), and Riza Pasuit (women's 54kg), are scheduled to see action in the coming days.

Gilas complete sweep in Asiad Men's 3x3 pool play

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Gilas Pilipinas Men 3x3 completed a flawless group stage campaign to barge into the quarterfinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, fending off Kazakhstan, 21-15, on Wednesday at the Kinjo Futo Station Square Venue in Japan.

With the victory -- the Filipinos' third straight counting wins against Asian No. 1 Mongolia (19-12) and Sri Lanka (21-12) -- Gilas finished on top of Pool A, officially securing their spot in the quarters.

Composed of La Salle's Luis Pablo and Doy Dungo, Santo Tomas' Koji Buenaflor and Binan Tatak Gel's Nic Cabanero, the team will take on Chinese Taipei at 5:30 p.m. (Philippine time) on Thursday.

"Nandito na," said coach Patrick Fran, pointing to his bag containing the scouting report and video materials on the Taiwanese. "Ready na."

Kazakhstan caught the Philippines—supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission—napping early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead powered by a two-pointer from Timur Tangiyev.

But Gilas quickly regained control behind a strong putback from Buenaflor, highlighted earlier by an emphatic two-handed slam, and a timely two-pointer from Cabañero to construct a 13-9 lead.

Although Kazakhstan pulled within one at 13-12 following a basket by Artur Junussov, Gilas responded with a key 8-3 closing run to seal the win with 33 seconds remaining.

The late surge was spearheaded by collegiate teammates Pablo and Dungo, who erupted with five of Gilas' final eight points, finishing the contest with six points, three rebounds, and two assists.

Cabañero again anchored the scoring with seven points, three rebounds, and an assist, an impressive feat considering he was nursing a sprained, swollen right hand he suffered during Gilas' game against Mongolia on Monday.

Pablo provided five points, while Buenaflor contributed three points to round out the balanced attack.

Timur Tangiyev led Kazakhstan with six points and eight rebounds as his squad fell to 1-2 in group play.

Mansur Seilkhanov contributed four points, with Junussov and Alizhan Ydyryszhan adding three and two points, respectively.

Sanchez pulls out of Women's 100m back, focuses on specialty event

c/o POC/PSC Media

It’s all about the 50m dash! The Philippine coaching staff officially scratched Olympian Kayla Sanchez from the Women's 100m Backstroke, giving her a Did Not Start (DNS) to prioritize her physical recovery for her strongest event.

National coach Ryan Arabejo revealed that they are controlling all the variables they can to give Sanchez the absolute best shot at gold.

"Dun tayo sa kaya nating ma-control. So, if we can rest Kayla and prepare her better for tomorrow’s 50 meters where she has a very, very good chance of winning a gold, we gave her a rest," he shared, noting she was also pulled from relay duties to maximize her rest.

Reflecting on her incredibly close 4th-place finish in the 100m Free, Arabejo praised her aggressiveness: "She took the risk and went harder in the beginning... naunahan lang sa very last stroke, so we move on to the next."

Now fully rested, Sanchez is gearing up for a fiery 50m showdown. 

"Ang 50, anything goes dyan... It’s anybody’s game," Arabejo warned.

Lessons learned from Asiad for Alas Women

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For Alas Pilipinas Women, the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games was about the chance to compete for a medal and ninth place was never the dream, but it became the best outcome after their quarterfinal hopes were cut short.

So the Filipinas had to shift gears and head coach Taka Minowa gave them a new target—win all three classification games and finish as high as they could.

They did exactly that and closed out with a straight-set win over Hong Kong, 25-21, 25-9, 30-28, on Tuesday night to seal ninth place—a victory the Filipinas clinched ahead of the women’s volleyball gold medal match won by China, 25-19, 25-20, 25-23, at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Gymnasium.

But the victories do not change the fact that they did not reach their goal—Alas came to Nagoya wanting more, knowing they can do more.

China and Kazakhstan stopped their run with the Chinese sweeping the Filipinas, 18-25, 22-25, 8-25, and the Kazakhs earning a 29-27, 24-26, 25-23, 25-19 victory.

The Kazakhstan match showed two sides of this Alas team—enough fight and firepower to push a stronger opponent, but not enough consistency to finish the job.

New goal, new mindset. The medal was gone, but the tournament wasn't.

Minowa made sure his players understood that. Three games remained, and all had to go their way. Alas took care of business, beating Qatar (25-8, 25-2, 25-9), Mongolia (25-13, 25-11, 25-20) and Hong Kong to close on a three-game winning streak.

For Angel Canino, the wins mattered.

“Actually, happy kami. Although hindi 'yun yung gusto naming overall goal sa Asian Games, happy kami sa lahat ng wins namin… yung mga nagawa namin as a team and, of course, yung learning experience,” Canino said.

It was Canino's first Asian Games.

“Grabeng achievement siguro individually… such an amazing experience na makasama ko my ates, na makasama ako sa Philippine national team. Kasi yung iba diyan, ini-idolize ko din,” she said.
Bella Belen was candid about what the tournament exposed.

“Iba. Iba talaga yung laruan. Ang dami naming napulot, lalo na sa amin mga bata,” she said. “Alam namin na meron pang dapat itaas. Taas pa namin yung level of playing namin.”

It showed what needs to improve. Minowa also saw progress after facing China and Kazakhstan.

“Actually, I think we have improvements… we have a lot to gain, experience. We became better team,” Belen added.

But now comes the harder part: How do you turn those lessons into actual progress?

Promising sign is that Canino is already looking five years ahead, hoping for a quarterfinal breakthrough and Belen saying the same thing—she wants to be back and finish higher.

So yes, Alas Pilipinas Women finish ninth. But ninth needs context. It was the best they could do after the medal run ended.

They came to Nagoya wanting a medal. They leave with ninth place but a clearer idea of how to get closer to one.

Jean Claude Saclag settles for Asian Games silver

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Jean Claude “The Dynamite” Saclag admitted he was disappointed after falling short of the gold medal in the men’s traditional -65kg mixed martial arts final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, but said the experience has given him a clearer idea of what he needs to improve.

The Filipino fighter settled for silver after facing Tajikistan’s Otabek Rajabov in the gold-medal match. Saclag reached the final after defeating Japan’s Daisuke Murayama by unanimous decision in the semifinals. 

“Sayang talaga. Gusto ko talagang makakuha ng gold. Nag-expect ako na kaya kong mag-gold. Malungkot ako, hindi lang dahil natalo ako, kundi dahil sa performance ko,” Saclag said.

He admitted that he had expected to perform better, but found it difficult to deal with Rajabov’s strength on the ground.

“Akala ko nag-improve na ako, pero grabe ang higpit niya sa baba. Gusto kong tumayo para makabalik sa laban, pero hindi niya talaga ako pinatayo,” he said.

Saclag also recalled how his opponent acknowledged the power of his punches during their handshake after the match.

The silver medal was Saclag’s second Asian Games silver, following his finish in wushu at the 2014 Incheon Games. He said he had hoped to finally capture gold after coming close more than a decade ago.

“Sinabi ko sa sarili ko na ito na ’yung pagkakataon kong mag-gold, kasi noong 2014, natalo rin ako sa finals sa wushu,” Saclag said.

Despite the disappointment, Saclag explained that transitioning to MMA was not particularly difficult because of his background with Team Lakay in Baguio. 

His experience in wushu sanda and kickboxing helped develop his striking, but the final exposed areas of his ground game that still need work.

“Hindi naman ako nahirapan sa transition, kasi iyon naman ang background ng team namin sa Baguio. Pero na-realize ko na malayo pa ang kailangan kong i-improve sa ground game,” he said.

Saclag said he plans to use the experience as motivation when he returns to the Philippines.

“Gagamitin ko itong sakit para mag-improve pa. Kailangan ko pang husayan ang ground game ko,” he added.

He also admitted that he became too eager after the opening round, which affected his execution of the game plan. The strategy was to rely on his striking, maintain distance, and avoid being taken down.

“Expected ko na ’yung ganung laban. Ang game plan sana, strike, strike, tapos iwas. Hindi ako magpap takedown. Pero noong second round, siguro nagmadali ako dahil akala ko nakuha ko na ’yung first round, Saclag said.

Although he fell short of the gold, Saclag remained grateful for reaching the final and bringing home a medal for the country.

“Sayang, pero thankful pa rin ako. Nakarating tayo sa finals at safe pa ako,” he said.

Looking ahead, Saclag said he intends to focus on improving his ground game over the next two to three months, taking the lessons from the final as motivation for his next chapter in MMA.