The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Wushu athletes Divine Masadao Wally and Arnel Mandal retained their respective titles in the recently concluded 8th Sanda World Cup in Xi’an City, capital of Shaanxi province in central-northwest China.
Wally, a 19-year-old MAPEH student at the University of Cordilleras in Baguio City, was declared champion in the women’s 48kg division after Egyptian Farida Elsody was injured.
The 21-year-old Mandal, who hails from Iloilo City, defeated Indian Uchit Sharma in a repeat of last year’s final in the men’s 65kg division.
Wally and Mandal were invited to compete in the 8th Sanda World Cup because of their gold medal performances in the 13th World Wushu Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia last year.
Hergie Bacyadan of Quezon City pocketed the silver medal in the women’s 65kg division while Francisco Solis of Iloilo was a bronze winner in the men’s 60kg division.
“The two gold, one silver and one bronze medal haul is the best-ever showing of the country in the Sanda World Cup,” said Wushu Federation of the Philippines secretary general. The Philippines won two golds and one silver in 2006.
Wally, who hails from Sadanga, Mountain Province, delivered the Philippines’ only gold medal in the 9th Asian Wushu Championships in Chinese Taipei in September. Mandal won the silver while Bacyadan took the bronze.
Wally is also a silver medalist in the 7th Asian Junior Championships and the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.
A total of 72 athletes from 27 countries participated in the 8th Sanda World Cup, which is sanctioned by the International Wushu Federation. Sanda, a combat sport that originated from Chinese kung fu, combines punching, kicking and wrestling. PNA