The Philippines is back at four gold medals in the Asian Games, matching its haul from Hangzhou in 2023.
But with only two days left in the Aichi-Nagoya Games, getting there has been anything but routine.
Jesus Yape supplied the latest golden piece on Friday, sweeping Vietnam’s Ngoc Tuyet Sang Chau, 2-0, in the final of virtual taekwondo at Toyohashi Gymnasium.
It was a performance with little interest in suspense. Yape took care of business, then left the drama to everyone else.
Boxer Carlo Paalam tried to provide the bigger headline.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medalist entered the 55-kilogram final carrying more than a pair of gloves and a chance at gold. A victory would have ended the Philippines’ 16-year wait for an Asian Games boxing gold.
Instead, Japan’s Yamaguchi Ru took the bout by split decision, leaving Paalam with silver and the drought intact.
Then came beach volleyball, where Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara decided a podium finish should involve considerably more trouble.
The Chinese pair of Shuting Cao and Jie Dong won the opening set and led 8-4 in the race-to-15 decider. The Filipinas, apparently unimpressed by the arithmetic, clawed their way back for a 13-21, 23-21, 15-13 victory and a historic bronze.
It was the sort of comeback that makes a scoreboard look like it had second thoughts.
The four-gold tally was supposed to be a floor, perhaps even a springboard, after Philippine sports officials entered the Games hoping to surpass the country’s four-gold haul in Hangzhou.
That has not quite happened yet.
Of the three disciplines that produced those four golds in China, only athletics has repeated. Jiu-jitsu, which delivered two golds in Hangzhou, has not added to the tally, while basketball has also come up short.
Athletics, however, has done its part.
Olympic pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena cleared 5.91 meters for another Asian Games gold and a record height, while gymnast Carlos Yulo reprised his golden Paris Olympics form with two titles.
Now Yape has joined them, bringing the Philippines back to familiar territory.
The country sits 16th in the medal standings with four golds, eight silvers, and 16 bronzes, with only two days left to improve on that haul.
Philippine sport has now matched the last edition’s gold-medal total, one sweep, split decision, and beach-volleyball comeback at a time.
Four golds, it turns out, can tell quite a story when getting to four is half the drama.
