Sandrex Gainsan capped his stint as junior Taolu artist with aplomb—carting off with the gold medal in his signature event, qiangshu (spear play), at the recent 8th World Junior Wushu Championships 2022 in Tangerang, Indonesia.
Gainsan’s teammates, who both hail from Quezon City, Vincent Ventura, 18, and Zion Diaraliay, 14, grabbed a bronze each in nandao (southern broadsword), 15 years and under; and 42-step taijiquan, 12 to 14 years, to round out the remarkable output of the lean and mean six-strong Team Philippines.
With his squeaking past Singapore’s Shaoyang Ian Sim and Malaysia’s Waipeng Hew, Gainsan escalated his golden showing in the 10th Asian Junior Wushu Championships three years ago in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
Philippine Sports Commission underwrote Team Philippines’ participation in the biennial conclave.
“We are elated PH figures in the gold column of the medal table anew of the world junior championships after being absent since 2014,” said delegation head, Julian Camacho, Wushu Federation Philippines secretary general and International Wushu Federation executive board member.
For his part, WFP president Freddie Jalasco, stressed, “Gainsan’s mint was the country’s fifth in seven junior worlds engagements–a strong indication of the strength of the WFP’s junior development program.”
Sanda warriors, Baguio City’s Krisna Malecdan (56 kgs) and Rhomlaiza Dagson (48kgs) and Davao City’s Geoff Basto Bustamante (56 kgs) failed to advance to the medal phases.
Foreign coach Li Jian Fang and former Sanda world champion Jessie Aligaga mentored the PH squad under head coach Samson Co, a back-to-back Taolu world champion.