Pinoy jins cop three medals in world poomsae tilt

The Smart taekwondo national team produced a remarkable performance in the recent 6th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships by bagging three medals—one silver and two bronzes—at the Olympiet’s Sports Center in Vladivostok, Russia.

Rookie Marvin Gabriel sparkled by winning the silver in the junior male individual category and sharing the bronze medal with Shaneen Sia in the mixed pari.

Veterans Rani Ann Ortega, Janice Lagman and Camille Alarilla captured the other bronze in the 1st team female category.

“It was a good finish for the team. Our athletes worked hard and gave their best against close to 600 other participants from 51 countries in the prestigious event,” said team leader Igor Mella.

Only 18 countries, Mella stressed, made it to the medal scoreboard in different categories.

Jean Pierre Sabido, Galilee Tinaya, Joel Lacsamana, Edrick Galing and Roel Borja also saw action for the Smart team coached by Korean Jeong Tae-Song. Stephen Fernandez acted as one of the tournament referees.

It was the best showing so far for the Filipinos. Gabriel’s silver was considered a huge achievement in the event where the golds had been won by Koreans for the past five years.