JAKARTA - The action started early at the Pulo Mas International BMX Center where the lone Filipino gold medalist of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games finally hit the track to try and defend his title. Daniel Patrick Caluag was joined by his brother Christopher John in men's BMX while Sienna Elaine Fines was the lone female representative of the Philippines.
Daniel Patrick fought hard in the medal round but he could only grab a bronze medal (35.82 seconds), losing his title Nagasako Yoshitaku of Japan (33.669 seconds) while Gusti Bagus Saputra of Indonesia (34.314), who was buoyed by a boisterous home crowd, grabbed the silver.
The BMX bronze was the seventh for the Philippines and eighth medal overall.
"It's not the result I wanted. I came in wanting gold, that was the vision. But Yoshi from Japan came in strong. I knew he was going to be my biggest competitor here," Caluag said after the race.
"We were playing in the rounds strategically. I was hoping that the others would expend all their energy but they also saved their energy just like I did, they played the same game. I'm happy with the finish. I would have been happier with a better color but any medal for the Philippines is great especially in a world stage like this."
In the women's seeding round, Fines ranked seventh with a time of 42.75 seconds which was 4.4 seconds slower than leader Hatakeyama Sae of Japan who clocked in at 38.35.
In the men's seeding round, Daniel Patrick finished at 36.22 seconds, good enough for the fifth spot, while his brother ranked 10th with a time of 37.41 seconds. Another Japanese rider topped preliminary round with Nagasako Yoshitaku finishing the track at 35.22 seconds.
In the women's motos, Fines made it to the medal round as she finished at the fourth spot in Heat 1. However, even with top bets Hatakeyama and Lu Yan committing critical mistakes, Fines failed to grab a medal as she finished fifth, finishing the track in 43.663 seconds, 4.02 slower than gold medalist Zhang Yaru of China.
In the men's motos, Daniel Patrick ranked second in Heat 2 behind Nagasako Yoshitaku of Japan to qualify for the medal round while his brother was eliminated due to his fifth-place finish in Heat 2.