HANGZHOU – Bannered by the solid play of Menandro Redor, the national para chessers finished with a flourish after winning three gold, two silver and two bronze medals in the standard event to help boost the Philippines to 12th overall in the standings midway through the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games here Thursday.
In his second Asian Para Games, Redor held Turkmen top seed Atabayev Aygdogdy to a draw in the seventh and final round, anchoring the men’s squad to a sweep of the B2-B3 standard event to emerge as the country’s first double gold medalist in the continental sportsfest.
The chesser, who has less than 10 percent vision in both eyes, actually wound up tied for first with identical 5.5 points with Iranian Amir Rabbi Khorasgani, but took the gold through the tiebreaker for having played stronger players through the seven-round series.
Armand Subaste was the next best local chesser with four points after drawing Tajikistan’s Suhrob Hamdamov as the PH squad, which includes Darry Bernardo, finished with 9.5 points in clinching the team gold in the stint supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Atty. Cheyzer Crystal Mendoza added the third gold in chess despite losing to Mongolia’s Khisigbayar Migjee in the last round of the women’s individual standard PI event with a final 5.5 points, the same output as Indonesia’s Yuni, who beat compatriot Lilis Herna Yulia in the other match.
Mendoza, however, took the mint due to the winner-over-the-other rule after beating the top Indon in the previous rounds.
Their accomplishments softened somewhat the setback suffered by the Nationals in the men’s PI event where they were dethroned in both the team and individual events by Indonesia following the setback of FIDE Master Sander Severino to veteran No. 1 Tirto in the final round.
While elated over his feat, Medor, 38, said “actually it was 50-50 going into the final round. Mahirap din ang pinagdaanan ko dahil malalakas lahat ng na kalaban ko.”
A winner of one gold, two silvers and one bronze in Jakarta five years ago, the chesser said he hoped to continue more to the country’s output with the rapid event coming up.
On the other hand, Mendoza said she felt “bittersweet” about her gold in her Asian Para Games debut, especially after she felt she had a winnable match against the Mongolian despite playing black pieces.
“I was ahead but made a blunder in the 28th move that led to the loss. So this gold is bittersweet because I felt I let my team down,” she explained. “Had I won, we could have had the team silver at the very least.
“But we have to manage our emotions since we still have the rapid event. Bawal manggigil.”
After wallowing in 20th place, the Philippines rose to 12th overall with four gold, three silver and four bronze medals in the 44-nation meet and among the 25 countries that have won a medal so far.
