By MARK REY MONTEJO
Chino Sy-Tancontian and Aislinn Yap broke the heart of the host country by downing their French rivals to rule their respective divisions in the 2024 Paris Sambo Grand Prix at the Salle Pierre Charpy in France over the weekend.
Coming off two-gold medal performance in the recent Philippine Judo Open, Sy-Tancontian was simply awesome, needing just 16 seconds to earn the golden honor in the men’s -98kg class in the two-day tournament.
Yap was equally ruthless as she overpowered Joannie Delbar, 4-1, In the women’s 80kg finals.
The Philippine team also produced a bronze – courtesy of Mark Striegl in the men’s 70kg
Their gold medal performances were a fitting sequel to their impressive showing in the Dutch Open where Sy-Tancontian and Yap bagged gold and bronze medals, respectively.
Up next for the Nationals are regional competitions including Sambo Bandung Open in Indonesia on June 6; Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships in Macau on June 29-30; and Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games this November in Bangkok, Thailand.
