Wushu aces Mark Ragay, Mark Polo and Vincent Ventura and other topnotch martial artists struck hard for the Philippines in the global stage in November.
Ragay, Polo and Ventura captured the gold in taolu men’s duallian in the 16th World Wushu Championships in Texas to lead the honor roll of the Philippine Sportswriters Association for the penultimate month of 2023.
The trio continued wushu’s tradition as consistent producer of world champs and anchored the Pinoy contingent’s one-gold, four-silver, one-bronze harvest.
Agatha Wong (taolu women’s taijijian), Arnel Mandal (sanda men’s 52kg), Clemente Tabugara Jr. (sanda men’s 65kg) and Jennifer Alipio (sanda women’s 48kg) delivered the silvers and Russel Diaz (sanda men’s 48kg) accounted for the bronze.
Not to be outdone was Hergie Bacyadan, who shone bright in the Vietnamese martial art of vovinam. Bacyadan made history with her conquest of the women’s -66kg class in the World Vovinam Championships in Ho Chi Minh City.
