By MARK REY MONTEJO
The Philippine taekwondo team made the country proud once again by winning 11 medals, including two silvers, in the recent Asian Taekwondo Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Poomsae bets accounted for all but one of the medals with Ian Matthew Cordon and Rodolfo Reyes Jr. finishing second in their respective events.
Clarence Sarza prevented the sparring (Kyorugi) squad from a medal shutout by grabbing the bronze in the women’s 46kg category.
The event was part of the PH team’s preparations for the Asian Games this December.
Sarza’s gutsy performance made up for the heartbreaking defeats suffered by top bets Tokyo Games veteran Kurt Barbosa and SEA Games champion Tachiana Keizha Ma in the week-long event.
Cordon and Reyes led the exploits with their respective silver victories in the Individual Male category’s U30 and U40, respectively.
This marked the first time that a father and daughter tandem of June Ninobla (U60 Individual Male) and Jocel Lyn Ninobla (U30 Individual Female) delivered for the country in one single event after clinching bronze medals in their respective categories.
Other bronze medal winners in the second day of poomsae competitions were Juliana Mykhail Candelaria (over 17 Individual Female), and Justin Kobe Macario (over 17 Individual Male).
Barbosa fell short for a metal after yielding in the men’s 54kg class quarterfinals in a match marked by intense action.
“The entire nation celebrates this incredible achievement with you and our entire National Taekwondo Team. Galing!” the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) wrote on its social media post.
