The jiu-jitsu gods had other plans.
Philippine bet to win it all Meggie Ochoa and teammate Kaila Napolis will figure in an All-Filipino Bronze Medal Match in the Women’s -49kg Jiu-jitsu tournament of the 2018 Asian Games.
It was not the expected match-up, but a series of unfortunate events led to this face-off, Friday afternoon at the JCC – Assembly Hall.
AIMAG gold medalist Meggie Ochoa cruised in the first two rounds of the tournament before suffering an upset loss to Vietnam’s Thi Thanh Minh in the semifinals.
Kaila Napolis, on the other hand, also fell in her semifinals match-up against Cambodia’s Jessa Khan.
Relegated to the repechage, the two wasted their oppoenents to set up the showdown.
Other Filipino grapplers for the day were not successful.
Gian Dee lost to Mongolia’s Erdenebaatar Ulziitogtokh in the quarterfinals of the -56kg tournament, while Marc Alexander Lim could not overcome Banpot Lertthaisong in the round of 16 of the -69kg division.
Ochoa and Napolis will face off later in the day at 5:00pm
