Yet another silat bronze

JAKARTA — Fueled by her previous setback, Cherry Mae Regalado delivered a gallant effort to clinch the bronze medal in the women’s seri tunggal event of pencak silat in the 18th Asian Game Monday at the Padepokan Pencak Silat TM III in East Jakarta.

Regalado, who fell short of winning a medal in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur last year, tallied 444 points to grab the bronze, just a mere point shy of the 445 points of silver medalist Nurzuhairah Mohammad Yazid of Singapore.

Local favorite Puspa Arumsasi claimed the gold medal with 467 points in this event that is a battle of wit grace and form.

Regalado, a 23-year old Nutrition graduate at the Aklan State University in Banga town of Aklan, said winning a medal of any color means a lot to her.

“I am very overwhelming because we really worked hard for this. Finally, we got what we wanted,” Regalado, who won the gold medal in the Asian Games Invitationals, a tournament that serves as test event prior to this prestigious quadrennial conclave, told Daily Tribune’s Asiad coverage supported by Primehomes.

“I was devastated after losing in the SEA Games. But I never gave up. I gave my best to prove that the judges in the SEA Games erred in their decision.”

With the win, the Philippines hiked its production to three gold and 11 bronze medals, three of which coming from pencak silat with Dines Dumaan and Jefferson Rhey Loon who claimed theirs on Sunday.