ASIAN GAMES: Gilas women bag 3X3 silver, Eldrew Yulo wins bronze

NAGOYA – Yuki Hirashita delivered a cold-blooded dagger with 31.2 seconds left, sealing Japan’s 21-11 triumph over the Gilas Pilipinas women in the 3x3 basketball final of the 20th Asian Games on Friday night.

Kacey Dela Rosa was a force in the middle as the Gilas women fought with unmistakable grit, but Japan’s precision proved too sharp and steady in front of a sizable hometown gallery at the Kinjo Futo Station Square Venue.

Dela Rosa had six points, three blocks and three rebounds, and Amyah Espanol and KA Kennan added three and two points each as the Philippines settled for its second silver medal in the Games.

In men’s gymnastics, Carlos Yulo’s younger brother, Karl Eldrew, claimed bronze – the Philippines’ fifth overall -- in the horizontal bar event with a score of 13.666 (5.0 difficulty, 8.566 in execution, 0.1 bonus point).

China's Hao Tian won (14.700) while Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka settled for silver (14.033).

“Honestly, I feel bad because I couldn’t lead them to the gold. They really deserved to win that. Sa lahat ng sakripisyo, lahat ng (Thank you for sacrifice, all) hard work, I really believe they deserve it,’’ Gilas women coach Anton Altamirano said.

“But we’re still happy to bring a medal home for the country. I believe we gave our best in the tournament, we just really fell short in this gold-medal match,’’ he added.

Hirashita, calm and calculating, orchestrated the offense with veteran poise, finishing with nine points and five rebounds.

Equally devastating was Sakura Horiuchi, whose eight points and seven rebounds provided Japan with a bruising interior anchor.

Together, Hirashita and Horiuchi formed a punishing one-two punch that dictated the tempo from start to finish.

Japan’s dominance was no surprise to those who witnessed its semifinal demolition of Korea, a 19-8 masterclass that underscored its status as the continent’s 3x3 powerhouse.

Gilas, meanwhile, earned its place in the finale with a gritty 13-8 victory over Thailand in the other semis clash.

The PH men’s 3x3 squad missed the podium after South Korea ruled their bronze-medal match, 21-9.

As of posting time, the Philippines has two gold medals (both from Carlos Yulo), two silver (one from mixed martial arts’ Jean Claude Saclag) and five bronze medals (Karl Yulo, women’s soft tennis team, mixed martial arts’ Carlos Alvarez and karate’s Marie June Adriano and women’s kata team).

China continued to show the way as of the 9:45 p.m. update with 98-37-24 gold-silver-bronze, followed by Japan (28-43-44), South Korea (13-17-24), Kazakhstan (8-8-14), Uzbekistan (7-15-9) and best-placed Southeast Asian team Thailand (7-6-8). (PR/PNA)