Boxer, volleybelles keep gold hunt alive with semifinal tickets
SAKHIR, Bahrain—The Philippines continued its memorable run at the Asian Youth Games, securing two more shots at gold as its best-ever campaign gained more momentum.
Leo Mhar Lobrido punched his ticket to the boxing semifinals, and Alas Pilipinas stormed into the Final Four of girls’ volleyball, keeping the country’s gold hopes alive heading into the tournament’s final stretch.
Lobrido showed composure in the closing seconds of his light flyweight quarterfinal bout against Sri Lanka’s Binul Dulnada Dewasiri Narayana, winning at Exhibition World Bahrain to assure the Philippines of at least a bronze. His semifinal bout offers a shot at upgrading that into gold.
The national girls’ volleyball team also booked a place in the medal rounds after a confident 25-16, 20-25, 25-16, 25-18 victory over Chinese Taipei at Isa Sports City. Despite dropping the second set, Alas Pilipinas leaned on the steady hands of Sam Cantada and Rhose Almendralejo to recover and take control.
“We’re happy because we got the win,” said Rihanna Cris Navarro. “We really worked for this. It was a knockout game, and we needed to reach the top four to get a chance at the gold.”
With unbeaten Iran next, Navarro didn’t hesitate when asked to rate their chances: “On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say 10. We really believe we can do this, and we’ll fight for it—for the country.”
The Philippines currently has a haul of six golds, five silvers and six bronzes at press time. Already, it is the best performance by a Philippine team at the event, besting the two golds the country won in the 2013 edition.
Weightlifting also yielded more reasons to celebrate, with Princess Jay Ann Diaz, niece of Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, clinching bronze in the 44-kg clean and jerk with a 78kg lift. Jay-r Colonia added another bronze in the boys’ 56kg with a 137kg effort.
The day wasn’t without setbacks—losses in taekwondo, table tennis, and cycling trimmed the Philippine delegation’s haul—but the highlights underscored a breakout showing.
