CHENGDU, China — On a day when most Filipino athletes saw their medal hopes fade, Raph Trinidad kept the Philippine flag flying, advancing to the finals of the men’s cable wakeboard event at the 2025 World Games.
Delivering a determined performance at the Sancha Lake Taohuadao Arena on Saturday, Trinidad secured his finals berth despite a modest 70.80-point output in the semifinals — a dip from his impressive 80.20 in Friday’s qualification, where he placed third overall in the heats.
France’s Loic Deschaux (89.80), and Germany’s Max Milde (86.60) and Florian Weiherer (77.20) topped the day’s scoring and will join Trinidad, Isaac Claudio of the USA (75.00), and Oliver Orban of Hungary (73.00) in Sunday’s 10:45 a.m. medal showdown.
“We’ll have a better idea come the finals,” said Trinidad’s coach Carlo dela Torre. “He’s up against heavy hitters from Germany and France, but we’ll do our best.”
Trinidad’s campaign is backed by the Philippine Olympic Committee under President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Not as fortunate was Eric Ordoñez in the men’s wake surf event, where he placed fifth in his semifinal heat with 40.00 points. Only the top three finishers in each of the two groups advanced to the medal round.
Over at Xinglong Lake Hubin Arena, the Philippine dragon boat squad bowed out in four events — the 8-seater 200m and 500m, and the 10-seater 200m and 500m — failing to survive the qualification and semifinal rounds.
The 8-seater 2000m team, which went straight to the finals, finished ninth out of 10 boats. The paddlers get another shot at redemption in the 10-seater 2000m finals at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Earlier at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Gymnasium, wushu bet Jones Llabres Inso placed seventh overall with a combined 19.112 points in taijiquan and taijijian.
The men’s floorball team also suffered a heavy defeat, falling 11-1 to powerhouse Sweden. Lucas Enaje spared the Filipinos from a shutout with a penalty goal just three minutes into the first period.
