PROMISING grappler Fierre Proudhon Afan salvaged a bronze medal in a qualifier for the 2023 World Combat Games to advance to the competition proper set later this year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Afan, 18, scored a 4-3 win over Armenian Suren Khurdayan via high amplitude throw in the battle for bronze in the M Gi Seniors 71 kgs class in the qualifier staged recently at the Yunusobod in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
He automatically punched a ticket to the Riyadh World Combat Games set October 21 to 30.
“I’m very proud of him and he is a pure Filipino. When he was younger, he fought and got third in the World Grappling Championships,” said Alvin Aguilar, president of the Wrestling Association of the Philippines. “Now, he is headed for the World Combat Games as our first qualified combat athlete.”
Afan finished third in the 2021 United World Wrestling Junior and Cadets World Grappling Championships in Ufa, Russia.
Afan beat Venezuelan Geiker Rafael Ferrer Torrealba and Iranian Iman Aghapour in the preliminaries but lost a very close fight to Uzbek Feruzbek Urokov in the semifinal.
Aguilar, Team Philippines’ Chef de Mission (CDM) to the World Combat Games, was satisfied with Afan’s accomplishment noting that this is the first time that a Filipino qualified for the World Combat Games.
“As the CDM to World Combat Games, I am excited to see him compete there,” Aguilar said. “He was up against all sorts of older and seasoned competitors in Tashkent.”
Aguilar is Afan’s long-time chief trainer. He wants the Marikina City resident to train in a secluded camp for the Riyadh games.
Nathanielle Vince Ortiz (66 kgs) didn’t fare well in Tashkent where they were accompanied by coaches Lester del Rosario and Michael Sayson Tabamo.