The Philippines kicked off its campaign at the 3rd Asian Youth Games on a high note after Kram Airam Carpio triumphed in the pencak silat girls’ 51–55 kg division at the Exhibition World Bahrain in Manama.
The native of Sta. Cruz, Laguna drubbed Qiken Dwi Tata Olifia of Indonesia, 33-19, in the championship round on Monday.
On her way to the final, she defeated Nazaninfatemeh Kolasan of Iran (36-22) and Sakshi Thakur of India (83-17).
“Thank you so much for your support. I hope our Filipino fans will continue to cheer for the entire team. We’re here to represent the Philippines and together we can make the country proud,” Carpio, a silver medalist at the Asian Pencak Silat Championships, said.
Meanwhile, representatives from boxing, taekwondo, mixed martial arts, muay, and track and field arrived Tuesday in time for the opening ceremony on Wednesday night.
Taekwondo produced one of two Philippine gold medals in the last staging of the event in 2013 courtesy of Pauline Lopez.
It has 16 athletes in the Philippine team, followed by muay with 12, athletics with eight, boxing with six and mixed martial arts, five
They joined the advanced Philippine delegation that included volleyball, teqball, pencak silat, kurash and golf.
Arriving in the next few days are athletes from triathlon, cycling, weightlifting, table tennis, badminton, wrestling, swimming and jiu-jitsu. (PNA)
