Alexandria Luz Enriquez secured a silver medal for the Philippines in the women’s -63kg jiu-jitsu competition at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday, Oct. 3
Enriquez fell to Thailand’s Orapa Senatham in a closely contested gold-medal match at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall.
The championship bout went the full six minutes and 56 seconds, with neither fighter managing to score a two-, three-, or four-point maneuver. The match remained tied at 0-0, with both athletes also avoiding penalties.
Senatham eventually broke the deadlock with a single advantage point after getting to Enriquez’s back, which was ruled as an advantage by the referee. Enriquez attempted to mount a late submission but could not overcome her Thai opponent.
Despite the loss, Enriquez reached the final after defeating opponents from Palestine, Kazakhstan and Mongolia by submission in the earlier rounds.
The 27-year-old Filipino-American is a 2023 world champion and also won the 2026 Asian Beach Games earlier this year.
Enriquez’s finish also gave the Philippine jiu-jitsu team another medal in the Asian Games after Kaila Napolis won bronze in the women’s -52kg division.
As of the latest medal count, the Philippines has four gold medals, nine silver medals and 16 bronze medals in the Games.
