LADY Luck refused to smile on Filipino bets on the waters and floor of the Paris Olympics yesterday.
Rower Joanie Delgaco and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe saw their golden dreams vanish into thin air with heartbreaking defeats that whittled down the 22-strong Team Philippines to 16.
Delgaco, the first Filipina rower to compete in the Games, wound up last in the quarterfinals heat of the women’s single sculls with a time of 7:58.30 at the stunning Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Despite Delgaco’s exit, rowing chief Patrick Gregorio remained proud.
“Great effort, Joanie. We are very proud of you,” Gregorio said, adding Delgaco nearly missed qualifying for the semifinals, with a two-second edge separating her from fourth place.
Defending Olympic champion Emma Twigg of New Zealand showed the way in the heat, while Switzerland’s Katharina Janzen and Spain’s Virginia Diaz Rivas also clinched their berths in the next round.
Over at the Champ-de-Mars Arena, Watanabe absorbed a heartbreaking defeat in the round of 32 of the women’s -63kg division.
China’s Tang Jing proved too much for Watanabe, 27, via an ippon victory in less than a minute.
Watanabe also fell in the round-of-32 in the Tokyo edition of the grandest sports spectacle three years back.
With Delgaco and Watanabe kissing their hopes goodbye, the Philippine contingent’s hopes now rest on the remaining 16 to get the job done.
Also eliminated from contention were the Fil-Am gymnastics troika of Emma Malabuyo, Levi Jung-Ruivivar and Aleah Finnegan, and fencer Samantha Catantan.
Swimmer Kayla Sanchez plunges to the Paris La Defense Arena anew early today after gaining a semifinals slot in the 100-meter freestyle.
Born to Filipino parents and raised in Singapore, Sanchez shattered the Philippine record after she clocked 53.67 seconds to finish fourth in Heat 4 and catch the 16-player semis cut.
Sanchez, 23, finished tied for 10th overall.
After helping Canada win a silver in the 4x100m freestyle and a bronze in the 4x100m medley in Tokyo, Sanchez switched federation to the Philippines in 2022.
Former two-time world titlist Carlos Yulo seeks to deliver the country’s breakthrough gold in the French capital today.
The 4-foot-11 dynamo sees action in the men’s individual all-around finals at the Bercy Arena.
Yulo, 24, will battle 23 combatants bannered by defending Olympic holder Hashimoto Daiki, who steered Japan to the team all-around gold last Monday, in the competition that gets going at 11:30 p.m. in Manila.
Tipped to contend in the all-around Big Dance are the Chinese and Japanese bets along with Fil-British Jake Jarman.
In the spotlight today, too, are boxers Carlo Paalam and Hergie Bacyadan.
Paalam, who captured a silver medal in the Land of Rising Sun, tackles Jude Gallagher of Ireland in the round-of-16 of the men’s 57kg class at the North Paris Arena.
Newcomer Bacyadan squares off with top seed Chinese Li Qian in the round-of-16 of the women’s 75kg class.
Four different tales–Yulo and Sanchez the fancied bets, and the pugilists the underdogs. Whatever the results as long as it favors the Philippines should be just fine.
