(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — Jeus Gabriel Yape delivered the fourth gold for the Philippines after defeating Ngoc Tuyet Sang Chau of Vietnam, 2-0, in the mixed individual virtual taekwondo event at the 2026 Asian Games on Friday morning at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Aichi, Japan.
The 22-year-old Yape became the fourth Filipino to snare a gold medal in this year’s Asiad edition after two golds from Carlos Yulo and one from Ernest John “EJ” Obiena.
With two days left, the Philippines has already tied its previous finish of four golds in the 2022 Hangzhou, China edition.
Yape went against a 21-year-old female Vietnamese since the mixed individual event has no separate gender or weight class divisions.
The mixed individual virtual taekwondo event is a digital, non-contact sport where athletes compete in a virtual arena.
The athletes wear a headset and sensors, where their movements and motions are tracked in real time.
Their characters will be represented on the screen as avatars and will fight in a virtual space with no physical contact with an opponent.
The game is played as a best-of-three-round system, with each round lasting one minute.
The athletes should execute kicks, side attacks, downward strikes, and head attacks to target the opponent's avatar, with their movements copied on the screen.
Yape finished with a bronze on Thursday in the men’s individual poomsae competition.
