Lhey Manginsay and Wilfred Redulla became the first Filipinos to win a medal outside the swimming pool at the 5th Asian Para Games. Their mixed doubles table tennis silver came Thursday, October 22, in Nagoya, Japan.

The result also ended a long wait for the sport. It was the Philippines’ first table tennis medal at the Asian Para Games since the late Josephine Medina took silver in Jakarta in 2018, and it lifted the tally to two golds, two silvers and a bronze.

Manginsay and Redulla Reach Asian Para Games Table Tennis Final

Manginsay and Redulla survived two five-game battles to reach the Class XD17 final at Sky Hall Toyota. They edged India’s Savita Ajjanakatti and Dattaprasad Chougule, 3-2, in the quarterfinals to get there.

In the semifinals, the Filipino pair outlasted Japan’s Yuri Tomono and Koyo Iwabuchi, 3-2. The five games finished 12-10, 11-13, 9-11, 15-13 and 11-8.

China’s Zhao Shuai, a Paralympic champion, and Xiong Guiyan proved too strong in the final, winning 3-1. The Filipinos took the second game, 11-9, but lost the other three, 7-11, 4-11 and 6-11.

Medina, a Paralympic bronze medalist, won her 2018 silver in the women’s singles. Manginsay and Redulla now join her among the Philippines’ Asian Para Games silver medalists in table tennis.

Silver Lifts Philippines After Ongcoy Bronze Reversal

The medal arrived on the same day Cyril Cloyd Ongcoy lost his bronze in the men’s 1,500-meter T12/T13. The visually impaired runner was moved to fourth with a time of 4:23.19 after the results were revised.

Ongcoy, 23, still took pride in his Asian Para Games debut. “Proud pa rin ako kasi first time kong maglaro sa Asian Para Games dahil mga kalaban ko, beterano na,” he said.