Saso, may tsansa pa sa Youth Olympics

BUENOS AIRES – Umiskor si Yuka Saso ng four-over-par 74 sa second round, ngunit nanatiling buhay ang pag-asa sa podium finish sa women’s golf competition, habang nakausad sa finals ng 200m freestyle si Fil-American swimmer Nicole Oliva sa 2018 Youth Olympic Games dito.

Matapos ang dalawang round, nakakolekta ang 17anyos Filipino- Japanese ng kabuuang 145, limang strokes ang layo sa nangungunang sina Alessia Nobilio ng Italy at Kim Grace ng Australia.

“She didn’t play her best today,” pahayag ni Ric Gibson, coach ni Saso. “It’s really tricky out there today.”

Nagawa si Saso ng bogey sa No.11 at No.15 at birdie a No.12.

Umiskor naman si Grace ng 69, habang kumana si Nobilio ng 72 para magtabla na may parehong two-day aggregate na 140 puntos, habang nakabuntot si Emma Spitz ng Australia (70) at Hoyu An of Chinese Taipei (72).

``I’m hoping for a windy day tomorrow. We handled it well yesterday and hopefully a different wind tomorrow will give us a different look at the golf course, fresh perspective,’’ pahayag ni Gibson.

Carl Jano Corpus also struggled the entire day, limping home with a 76 to fall 10 strokes behind the lead.

The 17-year-old bogeyed twice on the front nine and registered three more bogeys on hole nos. 13, 14, 15 after a double bogey on the 10th.

Karl Vilips of Australia grabbed the lead (69-68-137) while the only highlight for Corpus was a single birdie on the par-5 No. 11.

``Carl had the same problem today. They putted really well yesterday but didn’t putt as well today,’’ said Gibson.

Oliva made it to the 200m freestyle finals at the Olympic Park swimming pool but finished seventh in the medal race after clocking 2:02.1.

``To make it in the YOG finals is one huge accomplishment for any junior swimmer. Amazing,’’ said Philippine Swimming Inc. president Lani Velasco. ``She made top eight in the 200m free event with five heats competing against 36 countries.’’

Ajna Kesely of Hungary captured the gold medal (1:57.8) and China’s Junxuan Yang (1:58) settled for the silver.