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Friday, March 29, 2024

Catalan turns focus to SEA Games

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“Rest" is not part of ONE Championship strawweight contender Catalan’s vocabulary. 

Hungry for redemption after losing in his World Title bid against ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio at ONE: MASTERS OF FATE in Manila earlier this month, Catalan turns his focus to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in Manila. 

The 40-year-old will represent the country in sambo in the biennial games, which will take place from 30 November to 11 December. 

“Losing in my first World Title bid hurts because I know I trained hard for that match. But that’s part of being an athlete. I gained a lot of experience from there and I am ready to work my way to the top and compete once more,” Catalan said. 

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“Now, my focus is in the SEA Games, because I want to bring home another gold medal to the Philippines. It will also give me the necessary momentum heading into 2020 because I have a lot of plans for next year.”

Winning medals for his country is nothing new for Catalan. He snagged gold in the 2005 edition of the regional meet when he competed in wushu. Then he reached bigger heights a year later when he won gold in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha in the same sport. 

That was also the year Catalan was named the Philippine Sportswriters Association Athlete of the Year, showing that the Iloilo City native has done it all when donning the Philippine colors. 

Thirteen years later, Catalan looks to capture the magic of that once more. 

“Winning the gold medal in the SEA Games will only prove the winning mentality that I always had, and it will show I am hungry for more victories.”

But despite his eagerness to win, Catalan refuses to look past his Southeast Asian counterparts, who will certainly use him as the barometer when it comes to winning. 

“There won’t be an easy match here, but if you come in prepared you’ll have a better chance of winning. I know they will come at me hard, but they’ll see the difference of my mentality when we meet,” Catalan stated.

“What’s important is to take home the gold for my country, which will only give me more confidence when I go back to ONE next year.”

For one last time this year, ONE Championship returns to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for ONE: MARK OF GREATNESS at the Axiata Arena on 6 December. 

Catch all the action live and for free on the ONE Super App. 

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