Iloilo City pride Arnel Mandal nipped reigning world champion Vu Minh Duc of Vietnam to defend his title in the 52-kg class of the biennial Wushu Sanda World Cup held recently in Hangzhou, China.
Vu was the 22-year-old Mandal’s tormentor in last year’s World Wushu Championships finals.
Reigning 48-kg women’s champion Divine Wally, 24, from La Trinidad in Benguet, had to settle for the bronze medal this time as she bowed to world champion Dai Shimeng of China.
Wally, gold medalist in the 2016 Asian Wushu Championships, bowed to Dai in the semifinals of the 2017 World Wushu Championships.
Iloilo City’s Francisco Solis, the third bet in the lean Philippine team bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission, bowed to Li Kang of China in the 56-kg finals to settle for the silver medal.
Solis, 28, was a 56-kg bronze medalist in the 2017 and 2015 World Wushu Championships and 60-kg bronze medalist in the 2016 World Cup, while Li pocketed the gold medals in the 2016 World Cup and 2017 World Championships.
The Sanda World Cup is the apex of wushu, with only the medalists in the most recent world championships qualified to see action.
Wushu Federation Philippines President Tan She Ling commended Mandal, Solis and Wally for their feats and expressed confidence that the trio will win gold medals in next year’s Southeast Asian Games the country is hosting.