Napolis narrowly misses gold, bows to Korean jiujitsu ace
CHENGDU, China—Kaila Napolis settled for the silver medal after losing a close one to South Korea’s Im Eon-ju in the finals of the women’s jujitsu -52-kilogram ne-waza event on Sunday at Jianyang Cultural and Sports Centre Gymnasium here.
From a 2-2 deadlock in the dying seconds, Napolis tried to throw the Korean out of the mat to score and secure the victory, only for the sturdy Korean to keep her ground positional advantage that proved to be the deciding point.
Napolis still gave the PH contingent something to celebrate after action on a lot of fronts as the country earned its first medal in the competition.
“I am little disappointed I did not get the crucial point,” Napolis said. “But I am still grateful I was able to represent the country here.”
Meanwhile, Annie Ramirez, who was shouting instructions prominently from the spectators row to give her teammate a lift, dropped two of her bouts to bow out in the -57-kg class.
She, however, could bounce back in open ne-waza category.
At Sancha Lake Taohuadao Arena, Raph Trinidad came tantalizingly close to bagging the bronze in the cable men’s wakeboard event, with a late mistake in the final stunt denying his goal.
Cheered by his peers and even the Chinese crowd—with Trinidad being a big figure in the extreme water sport—the Filipino had a fantastic stretch in the second run before a misread of his approach on the aerial trick proved costly to his medal ambition.
Trinidad finished fourth with 56.60 points. Frenchman Loic Deschaux won with 95.00 points.
