Jiu-jitsu’s Alex Enriquez falls short of PH’s 5th gold in Asian Games

DOWN. Jiu-jitsu athlete Alexandria Enriquez in action for the Philippines in the 2026 Asian Games

PSC-POC Media Pool

Alexandria Enriquez's narrow defeat in the women's 63kg final comes a day after boxer Carlo Paalam and taekwondo jins Tachiana Mangin and Kurt Barbosa also missed out on gold medals

MANILA, Philippines – A fifth gold medal in the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, remained elusive for the Philippines as jiu-jitsu standout Alexandria Enriquez settled for silver on Saturday, October 3.

Enriquez lost to Thailand’s Orapa Senatham via advantage in the final of the women’s -63kg division at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall. 

The bout ended in a scoreless tie, but Senatham edged Enriquez for the gold by a single advantage point. 

A world champion in grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu back when she still represented the United States, Enriquez fell short of delivering another gold for the Philippines after she reigned supreme in the Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China, in April.

Her defeat came a day after boxer Carlo Paalam and taekwondo jins Tachiana Mangin and Kurt Barbosa also missed out on gold medals as they dropped their respective title matches.

Still, Enriquez gave the country its highest jiu-jitsu finish in this edition after reigning world champions Annie Ramirez and Kimberly Custodio suffered early exits. 

The Philippine jiu-jitsu team ended its campaign with two medals, with Kaila Napolis delivering a bronze in the women’s -52kg class.

Earlier on Saturday, Andrea Lois Lao came up short in her bid to contribute a bronze following a heartbreaking 2-0 loss to Mongolia’s Narankhishig Baasanjargal in the -53kg category. – Rappler.com