Mandal reaches final in World Wushu Championships

Filipino Wushu player Arnel Mandal (Photo: Arnel R. Mandal)

MANILA — Philippine bet Arnel Mandal has made it to the men’s 52kg final of the 14th World Wushu Championships in Kazan City, Russia.

According to the tournament results on the International Wushu Federation website, Mandal defeated Armenian Sargis Sargsyan during the semifinal round on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) at the Gymnastics Palace.

Mandal, 21, from Barangay Calaparan in Iloilo City, won over Indian Uchit Sharma, 2:0, in the round-of-16 before he eliminated Turkish Aydin Yikilmaz, 2:0, in the quarterfinal round.

In the women’s division, Hergie Bacyadan downed American Danielle Newsom in the semifinal round to advance to the 70kg championship round.

Bacyadan, a silver medalist in the 8th Sanda World Cup in China last year, defeated Italian Ilaria Cipolla in the quarterfinal round.

Meanwhile, Francisco Solis bowed to Korean Yun Ung-jin, 0:2, in the 56kg class semifinal round.

On his way to the semifinal, Solis defeated Jordanian Hamza Fuad Yahia in the quarterfinal and Armenian Hayk Gasparyan in the round-of-16.

Filipinos Jean Claude Saclag, Clemente Tabugara Jr. and Jessie Aligaga were also sent packing in their respective categories.

Saclag fell to Korean Jo Sung-hyun, 0:2, in the men’s 60kg class round-of-32, while Tabugara lost to Russian Ali Dalgatov, 0:2, in the men’s 65kg category round-of-32.

Aligaga, on the other hand, was beaten by Chinese Yongjie Wang,1:2, in the men’s 48kg class round-of-16.

Divine Wally likewise surrendered to Chinese Shimeng Dai, 0:2, in the 48kg category quarterfinal round.

The Philippines has won 12 golds, 13 silvers and 21 bronzes in the World Wushu Championships since 1997.