PARIS HEARTBREAKS: Delgaco, Watanabe end Summer

PARIS HEARTBREAKS: Delgaco, Watanabe end Summer | Daily Tribune

A pair of Filipina athletes ended their journeys on a heartbreaking note as they bombed out of their respective competitions in the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.

After showing signs of hope with a masterful performance in repechage last Sunday, rower Joanie Delgaco was sent crashing back to earth as she got blown away in a star-studded field in the quarterfinals of the women’s single sculls event while Filipino-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe took only 51 seconds to make an exit in the Round of 32 of the women’s -63-kilogram event.

Hopes were high on Delgaco following an encouraging performance in the repechage in which she clocked seven minutes and 55 seconds to finish second and become only the second Filipino rower after Cris Nievarez to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics.

But her luck ran out as she posted only 7:58.30 to finish sixth in Heat 3 and miss the cut for the semifinals by 24 seconds at the sunny Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium-Flatwater.

Reigning Olympic champion Emma Twigg of New Zealand topped Heat 3 with 7:26.89 while Aurelia-Maxima Katharina Jansen of Switzerland and Virginia Diaz of Spain clinched the second and third semifinal spots with 7:31.12 and 7:34.01, respectively.

Still, Delgaco has nothing to be ashamed of.

“What I saw from Joanie is that she needs to increase her strokes per minute. She’s smaller compared to her opponents,” national team coach Ed Maerina said, adding that the 26-year-old Delgaco failed to crack the top three of the 2,000-meter race from start to finish due to her shorter limbs and inferior power compared to her European and American counterparts.

“If she can do that, she’s bound to improve.”

Philippine Rowing Association president Patrick Gregorio said it was a job well done for Delgaco.

“Great effort, Joanie. We are very proud of you.”

‘What I saw from Joanie is that she needs to increase her strokes per minute.’

Also getting drowned by the star power of her foe was Watanabe, who bowed to Chinese powerhouse Tang Jing in just 51 seconds at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.

Making her second trip to the Summer Games, the 27-year-old Watanabe fell prey to an ippon from Tang in just under a minute, underscoring the experience and athletic superiority of the Chinese, the who ranks No. 22 in the world and won a silver medal in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou last year.It, however, was somehow an improvement as Watanabe made an exit in just 38 seconds when he bowed to Cristina Cabana Perez of Spain in his first Summer Games stint in Tokyo three years ago.

The only good thing that happened in the morning competition for Team Philippines was the qualification of Filipino-Canadian swimmer Kayla Sanchez in the semifinals of the women’s 100-meter freestyle event.

Swimming in Lane 1 of Heat 4, Sanchez proved that she’s good as advertised as she clocked 53.67 seconds to advance to the next round with 15 other tankers while shattering the national record of 54.25 seconds that she tallied at the Mel Zajac Jr. International Meet last June in Vancouver, Canada.

Sanchez finished tied for 10th overall in the heats along with Anna Hopkin of Great Britain.

World record holder Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden clocked 52.99 seconds to emerge as the fastest in the heats and advance to the semifinals that is set on Wednesday at 3:33 a.m. (Manila time).

Delgaco and Watanabe’s exits reduced the national contingent to just 16. Already eliminated in the first two days of action were Filipino-American gymnasts Emma Malabuyo, Levi Ruivivar and Aleah Finnegan as well as fencer Samantha Catantan.

But the Filipinos’ Olympic hopes have yet to completely vanish.

Still in the thick of the fight are the heavyweights of Philippine sports with Tokyo Olympics medalists Nesthy Petecio and Eumir Marcial still battling separate foes in boxing at press time.

Petecio is facing Jaismine Lamboria of India in the Round of 32 of the women’s 57-kg class while Marcial is still confronting Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan in the Round of 16 of the men’s 80-kg category.

Two more boxers in Tokyo runner-up Carlo Paalam and Olympic greenhorn Hergie Bacyadan will plunge into action in the Round of 16 of the men’s 57-kg event and Round of 16 of the women’s 75-kg category, respectively, while star gymnast Carlos Yulo will shoot for a medal in the men’s all-around event on Wednesday.

Should Yulo miss the all-around podium, he still has two more chances in floor exercise on Saturday and vault on Sunday while another star athlete in Ernest John Obiena — the second-best pole vaulter in the world — will march to battle on Saturday.