Tokyo—The Philippines capped its greatest Summer Olympic Games’ campaign on Saturday with a silver from flyweight boxer Carlo Paalam, an eagle-spiked six-under 65 by golfer Yuka Saso and the dawn of a new era in sporting excellence.
Already its best showing in the 97-year history of participation in the Olympiad following the country’s first ever gold from superwoman weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, the Philippines continued an onslaught never seen before as it added two silver medals and a bronze in boxing.
Two years after annexing the overall championship of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, the Philippines showed that its regional dominance was no fluke with its 1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze harvest, quashing by a silver the 1-1-3 haul by Indonesia and the 1-0-1 tally of Thailand.
One of those silvers from the Philippines was the one delivered by Paalam, the Philippine boxing team’s “bunso.”
The 23-year-old Paalam dropped a split decision loss to Great Britain’s Galal Yafai and settled for the silver medal in the men’s flyweight boxing finals at the Kokugikan Arena.
After suffering a knockdown from a four-punch flurry by Yafai at 1:48 of the first round, Paalam rallied from a 0-5 and 1-4 deficit in the first two rounds by finally winning his exchanges with Britain’s 2020 Best Boxer awardee for a 5-0 score in the final.
But the effort proved too late and the climb too steep for the least-experienced member of the vaunted Philippine boxing team here that has produced three precious medals in these pandemic Olympics.
“I gave all that I could. I was really fighting it out. I know the heart of a Filipino is one that never gives up,” said Paalam, who stands to receive a cash windfall in the vicinity of P20 million, give or take.
Paalam, who grew up in poverty and scavenged from a landfill site to earn money as a child, refused to be downcast.
“The silver medal symbolizes what I went through because when I was a young boy, I was a scavenger and I collected junk and garbage,” he said.
“There is still the Paris 2024 Olympics. I will ambition for [a gold] then,” he added.
Saso had her best showing in four days with her 65 but her last-ditch run fell just short of a medal at the conclusion of the women’s golf competition at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
The 20-year-old Fil-Japanese caught fire in her final nine, going six-over over a seven-hole stretch as made five birdies and an eagle at the drivable par-4 17th, which she reached in two before making a short putt.
In all, the ICTSI-backed Saso went a scorching 13-under par over her last three rounds on a 68, 67, and a 65, but an opening round of three-over 74 eventually cost her a place on the podium in her Olympic debut.
Saso wound up with a 10-under 274, climbing from 47th place to a share of ninth. But she finished seven shots behind American gold medalist Nelly Korda and three shots out of a shot at a medal.
Korda wrapped up the gold medal with a closing 69 and a 17-under par 267 total, completing the American sweep of the Olympic golf competitions after Xander Schauffelle won the men’s tournament.
Bianca Pagdanganan never really got going in the last three days after an opening 69. She closed out with a 74 marred by a double-bogey at the last and finished with a one-over 285 total, good for 43rd in a field of 60 players.
