Top poomsae bets nail gold, bronze

NAYPYITAW—The trio of Dustin Jacob Mella, Vidal Marvin Gabriel and Raphael Mella put up a brilliant show to nail  the men’s poomsae gold medal Wednesday at Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium here.

They got the nod of the judges in the taekwondo discipline of form and choreography with a total of 7.920 points, beating the Indonesians (7.590) and the Thais (7.550) on the day the favored PH women’s team lost its title.

For good measure, Gabriel added a silver in the men’s poomsae singles later on.

“Our men’s team is a young team. They’re dominant and they will be stronger in the next SEA Games. I promise you that,” said poomsae coach Jeanne Pierre Sabido.

Champions for the past two editions of the Games, the women’s troika of Janice Lagman, Rani Ortega and Rinna Babanta faltered this time as they could only finish third with 7.665 points.

Vietnam clinched the gold (7.950) and Thailand salvaged the silver (7.785).

Camille Alarilla, who teamed up with Lagman and Ortega in 2009 Laos and 2011 Indonesia, wasn’t around in their bid for a grand slam.

“The women’s team is now different,” said Sabido. “Janice and Rani are already into their late 20s. Their age gap with the other competitors is big.”

He said most of their rivals brought in poomsae artists aged 16 to 20 years old.

“And that is really a big difference in our sport,” said Sabido.

Babanta. is the youngest among the three at 16.

“She’s young and promising,” said Sabido. “If Rani and Janice decide to retire, I guess Rinna can be our future in women poomsae,” said Sabido.