Judokas win 2 golds in Asian beach meet

PHUKET, Thailand — The Philippines captured two gold medals in jujitsu Thursday night, offering an auspicious outlook for the country at the start of the 4th Asian Beach Games.

Filipino- Japanese Maybelline Masuda and Annie Ramirez both finished their opponents in assertive fashion to nail the first golds for the Philippines since competing in this biennial event in 2008.

Masuda, a former Brazilian ju-jitsu world champion, immediately swept Le Thu Trang of Vietnam and gained ground control throughout the six-min- ute duel for a 15-0 victory in the women’s -50kg.

The win was as spectacular as the golden effort of the 23-year- old Ramirez, who, despite being pinned underneath by Onanong Saengsirichok of Thailand in the 60kg finale, was able to submit her rival with a cutting arm bar before time expired to the dismay of the hometown crowd at Patong Central Beach.

“I don’t want her to take advantage of my mistakes and give them a reason to increase her points,’’ said Ramirez, an apprentice of the legendary judoka John Baylon.