Tshomlee comes to grief after thrilling tiebreaker

GUANGZHOU—Tshomlee Go tearfully settled for a bronze in the men’s -63 kg division of taekwondo, losing his quarterfinal bout to South Korea’s Lee Dae-hoon in a dramatic sudden death Friday in the 16th Asian Games at the Guangdon Gymnasium. With the score knotted at 4 at the end of the three regulation rounds, Go and Lee battled in a first-to-score encounter that saw both players rush each other in the middle of the mat. Unfortunately for the Philippine team, it was Lee who somehow found his mark. “That’s how it is in this sport,” a teary-eyed Go told the Inquirer after the fight. “Sometimes you just go for the attack and it all boils down to who hits the sensor.” The sensors are located at the side of the body armor the jins wear during matches. The bronze medal provided a sort of consolation for Go, who engaged Lee in a tense battle all throughout. Lee actually nearly won the match in regulation when he connected for a 5-4 lead, but the point was written off when a technical review showed the 18-year-old striking just after the referee broke the fighters from a clinch. Jeffrey Figueroa bested Rashed Khamis, 5-3, in the men’s 68 kg class but then bowed out rather controversially against Tajikistan’s Farkhod Negmatov. The bout ended at 6-6 after penalties—Figueroa set the defeat up with four penalties—and officials awarded the win to Negmatov by punitive decision. Maria Camille Manalo could not get anything going against Dhunayun Premwhaew in the women’s -62 kg class and bowed out, 5-3.