HANGZHOU, China — The Philippine para chessers struck a gold mine Saturday, bagging five out of a possible six in the rapid event to cap the country’s campaign on a victorious note for an all-time high of ninth in the overall medal standings on the last day of the 4th Hangzhou Asian Para Games.
Abetted by breaks plus the PH chessers’ gritty and united stand, they swept the men’s PI (Physically Impaired) and B2-B3 divisions while annexing the PI women’s individual mint courtesy of lawyer Cheyzer Crystal Mendoza and the team silver in the same event.
Typifying the resiliency of the squad was Asian Para Games rookie Darry Bernardo, who was one piece down playing with the white pieces but still managed to pull off an improbable win against Indonesia’s Adji Hartono in ruling the B1-B2 men’s individual event with six points.
Counting the rapid team gold, Bernardo and Menandro Redor emerged as the squad’s most bemedalled athletes with three mints each in the outing supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Thanks to their heroic efforts, the 72-member Philippines contingent here matched the tally of 10 golds in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games while rising to its best ever performance in the continental showcase to ninth overall, three notches higher than the country’s showing five years ago.
This was attained despite the fact that the PH standard-bearers had less silvers and bronzes — four and five, respectively, compared to the eight and eleven in the previous Games.
Veteran Henry Roger Lopez, who led the field with five points entering the seventh and final round, won a hard-fought match over teammate Jasper Rom to become a double gold medalist together with Mendoza in anchoring the men’s PI squad to a sweep of the team and individual events.
The 42-year-old Davao City native’s golden triumph was aided by the draw between Iran’s Aski Kazemian, who was tied with Lopez with five points and a round left, and veteran Tirto of Indonesia in the last round.
“Lopez would have lost on a tiebreak if Kazemian won, but somehow Tirto managed to draw the Iranian, paving the way for our player to win the gold,” national para chess head coach James Infiesto said.
