First wushu combat gold for Philippines

Filipino Rene Sornito Catalan took home his country's first-ever wushu sanshou gold medal, defeating Vietnam's Phan Quoc Vinh in two rounds of combat on Thursday 14 December.

He was the only non-Chinese winner of the day's finals as the dominant nation of the Games carried off four gold.

Catalan, who celebrated his 28th birthday two days before the fight by winning his quarterfinal, beat his opponent 2-0 in the final of the men's -52kg. It continued his excellent year having received a Philippines Sports Writers Association Award earlier in 2006.

He said afterwards: "I dedicate this win to everyone back home, my family, the president of the Philippines [Gloria Arroyo], to the federation and to the Philippines' Sports Committee." Catalan also paid tribute to his rival, having singled him out as the one to beat in the category.

"My family [inspired me]. I did a lot of preparation for my Vietnamese opponent as he is the toughest fighter in this weight division," he said.

Silver-medallist Phan said he had been hampered by knocks picked up in previous bouts. He said: "I have very serious injuries in my left shoulder and right leg. So I had nothing to fight with. I could only fight with one leg and one arm. My coach told me to do my best and I knew it would take every last effort.

"It's disappointing that my heart was in it, but my body couldn't take it."

Eighteen year-old Chinese fighter Li Teng meanwhile clinched gold on his international sanshou debut after Phoxay Aphailath of Lao forfeited their -56kg bout. He said: "Today when I came to the court I found that there was no opponent. It was very surprising. Someone told me that my opponent couldn't take part in the fight today. I won. This is true. But I wasn't always able to give my best during these Games. In the past few bouts, my performance wasn't satisfying. So in today's final I wanted to try my best for the spectators. Yesterday [13 December], I prepared well and focused on my tactics and technique. I was very confident to win the gold medal but there is no chance for me to represent Chinese sanshou in the final of the Doha Asian Games."

China took another gold, with Li's fellow sanshou newcomer Ma Chao, 21, defeating IR Iran's Alireza Sahra Neshini, 20, in the -60kg final in two rounds.

Ma said: "My performance was OK because my opponent was very strong. I managed to throw him and that's how I won. In the beginning of the bout I was thrown from the edge of the mat. This was my mistake. My coach told me to change my tactics and so I tried my best to throw my opponent and I made it."

It was then three for China as Zhao Guangyong defeated Duc Trung Nguyen of Vietnam 2-0 in the men's -65kg final.

Zhao, who lost his glove in the second round, said: "My opponent's strength was so strong that he pulled off my glove. It affected my performance because my rhythm got mixed up and I gave my opponent the chance to have a rest. I am satisfied with my performance but my knee has been injured for the last two days. Yesterday (13 December) the knee was iced for six hours but it didn't recover very well. So today my leg wasn't strong enough to compete.

"I have already met my opponent twice before the Asian Games and I always beat him. I understand his strategy very well and had confidence."

Nguyen was philosophical in defeat, pointing to China's traditional dominance of the sport. He said: "China is the country where wushu started, so the Chinese are so strong. But I am not worrying about it too much as I did my best. It has always been a problem because Chinese athletes are so good at wrestling. I knew this but I couldn't adapt to it in time, even though my coach and I knew we should. It was too short a time for me to prepare and practise against them."

In the heaviest category, the -70kg, China made it four, Xu Yanfei winning 2-0 against Filipino Eduard Ayangwa Folayang.

Wu, while not happy with his performance, dedicated to gold to his coach for his winning tactics. Folayang meanwhile said the strength of the competition at Doha 2006 had cost him dear in the final.

"I am so tired, especially because I was paired with some of the toughest opponents in my division. I found it hard with my injuries as well," said Folayang, who had sustained a black eye and an injury to his leg in previous rounds.

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006