GIVEN their experience and achievements in international play, wushu officials are guardedly optimistic that the three Pinoy wushu campaigners – two in taolou (forms) and one in sanda – could attain a podium finish when they debut in the 12th World Games set Aug. 7 to 17 in Chengdu.
“We are hoping for a podium finish for these three athletes given their extensive international experience and what they have accomplished,” said Wushu Federation of Philippines president Freddie Jalasco of taolu bets Jones Llabres Inso and Agatha Wong and sanda fighter Carlos Baylon Jr.
“As far as I can recall, this is the first time we have wushu campaigners in the World Games so I pray that they will do well and excel,” said long-time WFP secretary general Julian Camacho.
Inso, Wong and Baylon will be the country’s first wushu representatives in the quadrennial sports showcase for non-Olympic sports and will go into action from Aug. 7 to 11 at the High-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium.
The taolu competitions will be from Aug. 7 to 9 while the sanda contests will be from Aug. 9 to 11.
A bronze medalist in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Inso is fresh from winning the gold medal in the men’s chen style 56 movements at the World Taijiquan Championships August last year in Singapore.
The well-decorated Wong, a five-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, also won a mint in he women’s 42 movements taijiquan in the same tournament while Baylon went home with the men’s 56-kilogram championship in the 10th Sanda World Cup held from April 5-10 in Jiangyin, China.
