SEVEN-time Southeast Asian Games judo gold medalist John Baylon of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental said he agrees with the assessment made recently by national sports officials that the Philippines can improve on its three-gold medal finish in the last Asian Games held in Busan, South Korea when the RP nationals campaign in this year's 15th Asiad in Doha, Qatar in December. Reacting to an earlier statement made by Deputy Chief of Mission Mario Tanchanco, Baylon said he is optimistic that the country can win more than 3 golds this year especially with the country's usual strengths in boxing, bowling and billiards.
But Baylon again downplayed his own chances to bring home a medal in men's judo despite his most recent feat in the Thailand International Judo Championships where he exceeded expectations by pocketing the gold in the 81-kilogram division at the expense of one of the top Asian judokas from Korea Kim Young-Hwan whom he defeated in just 12 seconds in the finals. "I still don't want to be very positive about my own chances because I am only being realistic. I know the quality of the competition on this level and I know it's going to be very tough," Baylon said. The three gold medals won by the Philippines during the last Asiad in Busan were courtesy of Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski in equestrian; Paeng Nepomuceno and RJ Bautista in bowling men's doubles; and Francisco "Django" Bustamante and Antonio Lining in billiards 9-balls doubles. "Right now, the Filipinos are the best among Southeast Asian countries. So, in the Asian Games, we should be the best among the Southeast Asian nations participating so as to prove that our victory here during the last Southeast Asian (SEA) Games was no fluke," Tanchangco told Manila sports writers in a recent interview. Meanwhile, Baylon likewise confirmed that aside from boxing, bowling and billiards, there is also a possibility that the country might win golds in the martial arts sports like taekwondo, wushu and karatedo.
FONTE: Sun.Star - Philippines - http://www.sunstar.com.ph/
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