By MARK REY MONTEJO
The Philippine Jiu Jitsu team delivered a superb performance and copped three gold medals in the 2024 JJAU Asian Regional Championships – Southeast Asia in Bali, Indonesia over the weekend.
Mariella Rafael (women’s adult -52kg), Zeus Babanto (men’s U21 +77kg) and Yman Xavier Baluyo (men’s U21 -69kg) topped their respective categories in the two-day tournament which was joined by six other countries from across the region.
Rafael bested five other rivals in her weight class. including her teammate Jeraine Baluyot, who settled for bronze.
On the other hand, Baluyo outperformed six opponents that included four hometown bets while Babanto beat Indonesia’s Pratama Muhammad Akbar.
Joanne Tan and Ronnie Nolido secured silver in the women’s adult +70kg and -57kg, respectively, while Christopher Gallego took the same honor in the men’s adult -85kg class.
Gabriel Ong (-52kg), Chase Mapalo (-62kg) and Caleb Balanzat (-56kg) all got silver medals in the boys U16.
Meanwhile, Jolly Co (women’s adult -48kg), Baluyot (women’s adult 52-kg), Marc Lim and Michael Tiu (men’s adult -69kg) settled for bronze medals as the Nationals finished their campaign at sixth place, bagging three gold, six silver and four bronze medals.
Vietnam (52-54-44) shone with 150 medals. followed by Indonesia (17-20-32), Thailand (12-7-3), Cambodia (7-4-8), and Singapore (4-1-7).
