By NICK GIONGCO
JAKARTA – Flyweight Rogen Ladon assured the Philippines of at least a bronze medal after hacking out a 3-2 decision over Mahmetov Azat of Kazakhstan on Tuesday night in their quarterfinal clash in the boxing competitions of the 18th Asian Games here.
Almost given up for dead after five of his teammates went down in the first round of eliminations, Ladon, the 2016 Rio Olympics veteran and two-time world championships campaigner, banked on his left straight and right jab in getting the job done.
Next up for Ladon is a semis showdown with Thailand’s Tongdee Yuttapong, a similar 3-2 victor over Mongolian Ganghuyag Gan-Erdene in the other quarters duel.
A win will catapult Ladon to a gold medal match against the survivor of the other bracket featuring Uzbekistan top bet Jasubek Latipov, the three-time world championships medalist.
Meantime, the men’s basketball team finally played true to form and clobbered Japan, 113-80, to end a two-game slide, including a heartbreaking 91-82 loss to the Koreans on Tuesday that ended the Nationals’ medal hopes.
NBA player Jordan Clarkson sparked the country’s decisive run that enabled the Nationals to pull away for good after a tight first half action.
Two other Filipino punchers are looking forward to joining Ladon in the next round.
Light-flyweight Carlo Paalam and middle Eumir Felix Marcial are also eyeing podium finishes Wednesday.
Paalam collides with Temiras Zhussupov of Kazakhstan in the afternoon session while Marcial battles Kim Junjea in the evening.
Marcial, the 2009 world junior champion and two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist knocked out Ng Kuon Kun of Macau while Paalam shut out Tu Powei of Chinese-Taipeh in his previous bout.
Over in athletics, three-time Olympian Marestela Torres, failed to make a dent in long jump after finishing ninth overall with a leap of 6.15 meters, way below her personal-best of 6.71m she registered in the 2011 SEAG in Palembang.
Track and field is still in contention for a podium showing with US-based sprinters Kristina Knott and Trenten Beram making it to the semifinals scheduled Tuesday night.