By REY C. LACHICA
PARIS – Bianca Pagdanganan put on another remarkable shotmaking in the back nine, firing a 3-under 69 to keep her medal bid alive in the women’s golf of the Paris Olympics on Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Le Golf National.
On a day of dramatic shifts, Pagdanganan proved she’s up to the task as she produced back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes before capping her brilliant recovery with a closing hole birdie.
It was the same hole Pagdanganan birdied to salvage an even par 72 in the opening round.
Her fiery comeback gave her two-day total of 141 to draw level with five others at the sixth spot – all of them benefited from a major shakeup that saw Swede Morgane Metraux move up on top after firing a 66, while erstwhile frontrunner Celine Boutier skidded into Pagdanganan’s group with a 75.
If Pagdanganan keeps her nerves and sustains her charge, the LPGA veteran could increase the country’s medal harvest.
The Philippines is at No. 24 so far in the provisional standings with two golds, courtesy of gymnast Carlos Yulo, and two bronze medals – both accounted for by boxers Nesthy Petecio and rookie Aira Villegas.
Chinese Yin Ruoning turned in the day’s worthiest round of 65 to zoom into second place at 137 while New Zealand’s Lydia Ko of New Zealand is third at 139 – just two shots ahead of Pagdanganan.
Pagdanganan is one shot ahead of American top seed Nelly Korda who carded a 70, a round tainted by a quadruple bogey on the 16th.
Dottie Ardina, the other PH bet in the field, recovered from a shaky opening round by firing an even-par 72 for a 148, three shots ahead of Japanese Yuka Saso who could do no better than a 74.
ANDO PLACES 6TH
Meantime, weightlifter Elreen Ando finished a respectable 6th in the women’s 59kg class at the South Paris Arena in Versailles.
Ando, who beat out Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz in a virtual lift-off, logged a total of 230kg – big thanks to a new personal bests of 100kg in snatch and 130kg in the clean and jerk.
The Tokyo Games veteran actually finished tied with Anyelin Venegas Valeria of Colombia and Rafiatu Folashade Lawal of Nigeria but settled for No. 6 after the tiebreaker.
As expected, Chinese Luo Shifang reigned supreme, lifting 107kg in the snatch and 134kg in the clean and jerk for a 241kg total while Canada’s Maude Charron got the silver with 236kg.
The three-player PH weightlifting team had an ominous start when John Febuar Ceniza got a DNF (did not finish) card in the men’s 61kg class.
That’s because the Cebuano star who is ranked No. 5 in the world failed to clear the 125kg he declared as his starting lift in the snatch.
Meantime, world No. 4 Vanessa Sarno is set to compete in the women’s 71kg class. of women’s weightlifting on Friday, Aug. 9.
