Wong keeps crown
I’m really happy that I was able to deliver the gold medal
Agatha Wong displayed tremendous grace under pressure to successfully defend her crown in women’s taijiquan event in the wushu competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games yesterday at the World Trade Center.
The comely College of Saint Benilde graduate wowed the judges with her fine form and near flawless performance to register a score of 9.67 points and kick off the campaign of the vaunted wushu squad on the right track.
Lachkar Basma of Brunei scored 9.55 points while Tran Thi Minh of Vietnam tallied 9.53 points to claim the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Wong, who bagged the bronze medal in the 18th Asian Games last year, said she came into the biennial meet with zero expectations.
“I didn’t expect anything even though they wrote articles about me saying that I’m the gold standard in my sport,” said Wong, who is eager to bring back the glory days of Philippine wushu.
“I’m really happy that I was able to deliver the gold medal. I have no regrets.”
Meanwhile, Daniel Parantac will be retiring with a medal around his neck after taking home the bronze in the men’s taijiquan event.
Parantac scored 9.56 points to emerge on top while Zheng Yu Horsea Wong of Brunei took the silver medal with 9.59 points and Choon How Loh of Malaysia settled for the bronze with 9.68 points.
Parantac announced his retirement August of last year and confirmed that he is still going to stick with his decision regardless of what happens in this year’s biennial meet.