Fresh off a gold-medal performance at the Southeast Asian Games, Filipina kickboxer Zyra Bon-as is already looking toward a larger stage: the Asian Games.
The Benguet State University student, who captured the women’s 48kg low kick title on Tuesday, expressed hope that the combat sport will be included in the upcoming Asian Games program, allowing her to represent the Philippines on the continental level.
“I am hoping to have kickboxing in the Asian Games,” Bon-as said, eyeing a potential debut if the discipline is featured. “I’m looking forward to the possibility of representing the Philippines anew.”
Bon-as’ championship run in Bangkok was defined by narrow, hard-fought victories. She secured the gold with a 2-1 split decision over hometown favorite Jantakarn Manoban of Thailand at the John Paul II Sports Center.
The victory followed an identical 2-1 semifinal win over Vietnam’s Bui Thi Yen Nhi—a match Bon-as described as her steepest challenge.
“The fighter from Vietnam was my toughest opponent,” Bon-as said. “I told myself that if I could beat her, I could handle whoever I faced in the finals.”
Even Noriel Dawn Acquisio, her long – time coach at Max Fusion Gym based in La Trinidad, Benguet new that if Bon-as hurdled her Vietnamese foe, it will be a cakewalk to the gold medal.
“This is the first time na hindi kame magkasama, pero ang sinabi ko once na malagpasan mo yung taga Vietnam, ok na. Eto din yung first in her 30 fights na halos hindi ako kinabahan,” said Acquisio.
The road to gold began with two months of high-altitude training in Baguio City before a final camp in Tagaytay. Bon-as, a third-year sports sciences student, credited her university for supporting her dual life as an elite athlete and a scholar.
“It is a great privilege because my school was very understanding,” said Bon-as, who acknowledged the College of Human Kinetics at Benguet State University. “All the sacrifices and all the hardships were worth it. They led to something great.”
While her immediate future involves returning to her studies, her long-term focus remains on the hope that kickboxing’s rising popularity will secure its place on the Asian Games roster. Roderick Osis