Asian Games: Meggie Ochoa plays through fever, hip pain to claim second gold for Philippines

Meggie Ochoa poses during the medal ceremony on Oct 5. - Reuters

HANGZHOU (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): Hands down the most decorated Filipino in her sport, no amount of harm can force Meggie Ochoa to quit.

But after striking gold in the 19th Asian Games here, the seasoned grappler takes a step back from the mat to ponder on her athletic future.

“For now, I would rather pay more attention to my recovery before I think of any competitions within the year,’’ said Ochoa, who subdued current world champion Balqees Abdulla of the United Arab Emirates in the -48kg final of women’s jiu jitsu on Thursday that gifted the Philippines its second gold medal.

It was a win carved out of sheer will, having been fever-stricken in the last three days. And not only that, Ochoa is still recovering from a meniscus tear in her left knee sustained during the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games early this year where the two-time champion settled for a silver medal.

Ochoa came to this city known as China’s e-commerce and artificial intelligence hub with a fever that never went away. That’s why she was so emotional when she was declared the winner by advantage.

“There were too many obstacles even before I came here. It only became worse when I got sick,” Ochoa, tears running down her cheeks, said. “But I kept the faith and told myself to just do my best to win.

The 33-year-old, a two-time world champion in 2018 Sweden and last year in Abu Dhabi, subdued Mongolia’s Odgerel Batbayar in the round-of-16 and then submitted Kazakhstan’s Nazgul Rakhayeva in the quarterfinal at the Xiaoshan Linpu Gymnasium.

Then the challenge grew larger after hurting her hip before tripping Thailand’s Pechrada Kacie Tan, 4-2, in the semifinals.

All the piercing pain went away when the referee raised Ochoa’s hand in the gold medal match against the 19-year-old Abdulla.

“What I had gone through was different. I went through several challenges, but these struggles only made victory sweeter,’’ said Ochoa.

As the third man in the mat signaled the start of their match, Ochoa clinched and immediately sent Abdulla to the ground.

Repeatedly trying to extricate herself from Ochoa’s tight grip, Abdulla was overwhelmed by the Filipino for nearly three minutes until the clock expired.

“I can feel pain (in my hip), but I still have to check if there’s an injury,’’ said Ochoa, whose victory upped Team Philippines medal total to two gold, one silver and nine bronze medals overall.