By REY C. LACHICA
HANGZHOU, China – Fil-Canadian Kayla Sanchez summoned every ounce of her energy in the hope of breaking the so-called Great Wall of China in the women’s 50-meter backstroke of the swimming competitions in the Asian Games Monday, Sept. 25, here.
But again, she failed.
Sanchez did manage to join the wild and exciting rush to the finish line but her best was good only for sixth place with Chinese Wang Xueer and Wan Letian completing another remarkable 1-2 finish which was also what happened in some races.
Wang clocked 27.35 to edge out Wan (27.41) for the gold in a race that produced an electric atmosphere inside the city swimming stadium.
Japanese Takahashi Miki took the bronze in 28.21 while Hong Kong’s Stephanie Au Hoi Shu (28.35) and Korea’s Lee Eunji (28.60) wound up fourth and fifth respectively
A proud winner of silver and bronze medals in the Tokyo Games last year, Sanchez, a noted relay specialist, timed 28.66 to break the record of 28.95 set by Teia Salvino in the Cambodia SEA Games only last May.
The group did swim so fast that even Salvino bettered her own record by logging 28.79 in finishing 8th and last.
Meantime, boxer Aaron Jude Bado debuted on the wrong foot after losing to Thai Thitisan Panmo in their 51kg division match via an RSC-L (Referee Stopped Contest-Injury) decision in the second round.
Bado suffered a huge cut on his left eyebrow, prompting the ring physician to end the contest with barely 16 ticks left in the round.
