Team Philippines poses for a group photo after dominating the 16th World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) Championships. | Photo from Jovan Gimenez
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Team Philippines banked on homecourt advantage to outperform foreign eskrimadors and dominate the 16th World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) Championships which officially capped off on Friday, July 22, 2022 at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex.
Team Philippines etched a historic feat in WEKAF after hauling a staggering 418 medals to emerge as the overall champion of the prestigious arnis event.
They finished with 141 gold medals along with 139 silvers, and 138 bronzes, which is a record setting feat in the 33-year history of WEKAF.
The gold medal haul was headed by Annjeanette Brilliantes, Jude Oliver Marie Rodriquez, Kate Iccy Solis, Anthony Cris Luna, Bryze Danielle Manaytay, and Dexler Bolambao who won three gold medals each in their respective events.
Meanwhile, Team USA finished second in the medal tally with a distant 21 gold medals, 21 silvers, and 47 bronzes. South Korea finished third with 3-3-9 (gold-silver-bronze) tally.
American eskrimadors Robert Williams, Kim Everett, Mary Rogers, Alex Salinas, Richard Coley, Valentin Stanev, Cooper Geldmacher, Kenneth Roiles, and Doug Elkerson led Team USA by winning two gold medals each.
In addition, Emery Geldmacher, Felix Roiles, and Jen Herzog chipped in one gold medal apiece for Team USA.
On the other hand, Jinkyu Lee was the lone double gold medalist for South Korea, while teammate Seongun Byeon harvested one gilt.
United Kingdom earned three gold medals courtesy of Barry Littlejohn who won all of it. Portugal had two gold medals from Ricardo Teixeira.
India finished with one silver and 17 bronzes, while Switzerland also had a single silver medal and one bronze. Germany earned two silver medals, while Brazil had one bronze.
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