PHILIPPINE youth athletes Eavan Marcus Chang and Aleina Bella Salamillas flaunted their homegrown skills on the international stage, bringing home gold and bronze medals in their respective categories at the 2024 Jiu-Jitsu World Cup in Heraklion, Greece.
Chang won all his five matches in the U14 male -40kg division to emerge as the champion.
He started strong, defeating Thailand’s Achita Kawicha 8-2 in the first round. Chang then continued his winning streak with back-to-back submission victories over Greece’s Georgios Sakkas in the quarterfinal and Ukraine’s Mykhailo Honza in the semifinal.
In a decisive final, Chang claimed the gold medal by overcoming Kazakhstan’s Karim Idrissov. Kawicha and Israel’s Ethan Saar each took home bronze in the division.
Salamillas also made her mark, securing a bronze medal in the U14 female -44kg category.
She impressed the crowd with three submission victories and a dominant 16-0 win in her semifinal match.
Canadian Robyn Teruel claimed the gold medal, while Greece’s Efthymia Trentsidi took the silver. Salamillas shared the bronze with Alisa Ermakova, competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete.
