Parantac’s wushu gold medal hopes dashed by errors

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Daniel Parantac sat alone on a white monoblock chair, staring at other wushu athletes warming up or milling about in their designated area. He appeared ashen and stunned. Moments later he plugged earphones into his ears and drowned out the world around him.

When his competitor and new gold medalist Jack Chang Loh of Malaysia walked over to the mixed area for media interviews, Parantac chanced a peek at the scrum eager to get soundbites from the latest man of the hour. As quickly as he peered over, Parantac looked away again, and went back to his thoughts – as though he was still trying to process this latest disappointing defeat. 

Parantac, a Wushu World Championships silver medalist, failed to clinch another gold medal, or even a podium finish, in the men’s taijijian event of wushu on Sunday, August 20 during the 2017 Southeast Asian Games at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center here.

The 26-year-old finished just outside of the top 3 at fourth place with a score of 9.56.

His coach Ching Chi Choy rued a couple of costly errors that dealt a severe blow to Parantac’s final score.

“Meron siyang kaunting error na medyo na-outbalance, na medyo nag-bounce ‘yung katawan, may deduction na 0.1 ‘yung score,” he told a small group of reporters after the event.

“‘Yung 0.1 na yun ay sobrang laking bagay na ‘yun. Pwede kang from gold medalist to the last.”

(He had an error and was outbalanced, then his body also bounced slightly, which led to a 0.1 deduction in the score. That 0.1 is a huge deal. You can go from gold medalist to last.)

Parantac’s error wasn’t calamitous enough to send him to the cellar, but it did oust him from medal contention.

The gold medal instead went to host Malaysia’s bet Jack Chang Loh with his score of 9.67. Bobie Valentinus of Indonesia copped the silver at a score of 9.65, while Singapore’s Jun Kai Chan tallied 9.62 for bronze.

Ching Chi Choy pointed to an early part of Parantac’s routine when he lost his balance as well as a later one where Parantac’s landing wasn’t as smooth.

“Actually ‘yung whole routine niya, execution of moves niya, okay naman, including ‘yung ibang difficulties. ‘Yun lang, ‘yung second difficulty hindi maganda ‘yung pag-handle ng landing. Medyo nag-move ‘yung landing,” the coach explained.

“Kung hindi na-deduct ‘yung 0.1, dapat 9.66. E ‘yung pagka-error niya meron pa another deduction from another part, ‘yung performance point. Kung hindi na-deduct yan, I think ‘yung score niya magiging 9.68, malalampasan niya ‘yung gold medalist.”

(Actually his whole routine and his execution of moves were okay, including other difficulties. But in his second difficulty his landing wasn’t as good. He moved a bit on the landing. If that 0.1 wasn’t deducted, he would’ve scored 9.66. But he also had another deduction from another part, the performance point. If those weren’t deducted I think his score could have been 9.68, and he would have bested the gold medalist.)

An anterior cruciate ligament injury in Parantac’s right knee from over a year ago also shortened his preparations to some 3 to 4 months, and hobbled him in this competition, according to Ching Chi Choy.

Parantac, who already has two career SEA Games gold medals under his belt in different wushu events, kept to himself after the loss.

His coach told the media Parantac wasn’t up to giving interviews. Parantac, however, was still asked if he would be willing to answer at least one question. The Baguio native, earphones still tucked into his ears, turned for a quick glance at the media area then solemnly shook his head.

With the nature of this competition, Parantac has no choice but to swiftly gather himself after this devastating loss and try to bounce back on Tuesday, when he competes again, this time in a new event called taiquan.

Parantac’s coach gave this assurance about the mental toughness of his ward: “I think he can handle it.” – Rappler.com