Yape named PH flag bearer for Asian Games closing 

TAEKWONDO gold medalist Jeus Gabriel Derick Yape has been named the flag bearer for Team Philippines during the parade of athletes at the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games closing ceremony on Sunday. Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino praised the selection ahead of the event scheduled for 5 p.m. (Manila time) at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium. “He’s deserving of that honor,” Tolentino said on Saturday. “It will be a recognition not only for Jeus but also for taekwondo, which finally won its first Asian Games gold medal since 1994, when the sport became a medal event in the games.” Yape secured the top spot in mixed virtual taekwondo—an open-gender event combining combat sports with virtual reality and motion-tracking technology—on Friday. His victory highlighted a record 1-3-1 gold-silver-bronze haul for the Filipino jins. He also earned a bronze medal in men’s individual poomsae. Joining Yape in the closing ceremony are fellow taekwondo medalists Juliana Mykhail Candelaria, Tachiana Keizha Mangin, and Kurt Barbosa, alongside boxing silver medalist Carlo Paalam. Paris Olympics boxing bronze medalist Aira Villegas and world junior weightlifting…