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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Heart of Gold

Heart of Gold

Published Oct 5, 2023 11:04 am

At A Glance

  • HANGZHOU, China — She has a heart of gold, so naturally Margarita "Meggie" Ochoa was rewarded with a gold medal on a cool, windy Thursday, Oct. 5, in the jiu-jitsu competitions in the 19th Asian Games at the XSL Gymnasium here.

HANGZHOU, China — She has a heart of gold, so naturally Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa was rewarded with a gold medal on a cool, windy Thursday, Oct. 5, in the jiu-jitsu competitions in the 19th Asian Games at the XSL Gymnasium here.

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Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa brings home the second gold for Team Philippines. (PSC-POC Media Pool)

A prominent member of the Fight to Protect, a movement that aims to fight child abuse in the country, Ochoa defied flu-like symptoms to beat Abdulla Alqees of the United Arab Emirates via 1-0 advantage to claim one of two sporting goals of her sporting career – reason why she cried unabashedly. 

“Sobrang overwhelmed, ibang klase to, kasi daming kong dinaanan, kasi hanggang kahapon may trangkaso pa ako,” said the still sobbing jiu-jitsu black belter after their women’s -48-kilogram finals showdown. 

“Dami kong ininom na gamot para makalaban. So ginawa ko lahat, sa bansa ang panalong ito, sa mga sumusuporta sa amin. Sana suportahan din nila ang ibang mga Pilipinong manlalalaro. I’m sure marami pang mananalong Filipino ng gold,” said the charming 33-year-old Ochoa, who shot to stardom after winning the world championship in this Brazilian sport.

She said the struggles she went through this year just made her victory more meaningful and sweeter. 

In the Jakarta Games, she managed only a bronze medal.

“Yes, this makes my victory sweeter,” said Ochoa, whose angelic face has captured the hearts of many, including one journalist.

Apart from winning an Asian Games gold, Ochoa said her other ultimate goal is also to win a gold in the AIMAG (Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games) next year.

Ochoa’s gold medal feat came five days since pole vault ace EJ Obiena put Team Philippines in the gold medal column in record fashion.

Apart from the two golds, Team PH also has 1 silver and 9 bronze medals. 

Ochoa advanced to the medal round with a 4-2 win over Thai Kacie Pechrada Tan, a fitting sequel to her victory by submission over Kazakhstan’s Nazgul Rakhayena.

Ochoa, who repeated her 2015 world title conquest last year in Malmo, Sweden, launched her gold medal bid by outsmarting Mongolian Odgerel Batbayar also by submission.

Ochoa’s victory provided enough inspiration to Sakura Alforte who defeated Taiwanese Chien Hui Hsuan in women’s karate kata to bag the country's 10th bronze medal not as fortunate, however, was Marc Alexander Lim, who lost to Kazakhstan Mansu Khabibulla in the bronze medal fight for men’s -62kg contest, 6-2.

Another karate bet Alwyn Batican was also eliminated in the Round of 16 by Jordan’s Hasan Masarweh in the -75kg division.

In wrestling, Jiah Pingot suffered a 2-0 defeat to Chen Yi Jing in the women’s freestyle 50kg while soft tennis bets also dropped their matches in the mixed doubles classification round, including against North Korea. 

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