PH ends campaign at Youth Olympics

FILE: TEAM PHILIPPINES. The members of the Philippine delegation with Philippine ambassador to Argentina Linglingay Lacanlale (front row, third from right) during the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. Also in photo are (front row, L-R) golfer Yuka Saso, chef de mission Jonne Go, Philippine Sports Commission executive director Merlita Ibay, Lacanlale, archer Nicole Tagle and table tennis player Jann Mari Nayre. Back row, L-R, are golfer Carl Janno Corpus, kiteboarder Christian Tio and fencer Lawrence Tan. (Contributed photo via PNA)

BUENOS AIRES — Archer Nicole Tagle closed out the country’s stint in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games without any medal to show on Monday along with golfers Yuka Saso and Carl Janno Corpus.

The pair of Corpus and Saso assembled together a score of eight-over 148 on the final day, finding themselves out of the medal race after three rounds in the mixed team event at the Hurlingham Club here.

They were still in contention during the opening day at four-under, but bombing out on the next 18 holes with a five-over proved to be disastrous that left them chasing leaders Atthaya Thitikul and Vanchai Luangnitikul of Thailand and the United States duo of Lucy Li and Akshay Bhatia, who were already up by a wide margin.

Thitikul and Luangnitikul eventually grabbed the gold medal while Li and Bhatia settled for the silver.

Tagle, the Southeast Asian Games silver medalist, was ahead after three sets, 4-2, before Alyssia Tromans-Ansell of Great Brittain mounted a rally in the last two frames for a 6-4 victory that propelled her to the quarterfinals.

“I did my best and gave everything I had,’’ Tagle said after her round of 16 exit at the Parque Sarmiento archery range.

The Philippines placed 69th out of 206 countries after kiteboarder Christian Tio clinched a silver medal on Sunday, sharing the spot with Algeria, Ireland, Saint Lucia, Chinese Taipei, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.

“For me, this is a huge success for Team Philippines. We almost had two medals here,’’ said PH chief of mission Jonne Go.

On her second straight stint as CDM, Go again produced a medal in these Youth Olympics where the best under-18 athletes in the world showcased their talents in 32 sports.

Archer Gab Moreno won the country’s first gold medal in the mixed international event with China’s Li Jiaman under the tenure of Go in 2014 in Nanjing, China.

Saso, who catapulted to instant fame when she won the Asian Games women’s individual gold, came close to bringing home a medal after leading the field on the final day.

The 17-year-old from Bulacan, however, fell in a three-cornered playoff for silver and bronze and eventually lost her bid for a podium finish.

Russia is leading the way in the medal tally with 24 gold, 15 silver and nine bronze medals with two more competition days left before the closing ceremony on October 18.

China is second overall with a 16-7-9 tally while Japan (13-7-12) and Hungary (12-6-4) are running third and fourth. (POC-PSC Media Group)