Bermejo, Ilao whip foreign As-Pac taekwondo foes; Mora scores KO

ILOILO CITY—Irene Therese Bermejo connected with vicious head kicks against her much taller South Korean foe and Levita Rona Ilao outclassed her rival as the Philippines got off to a promising start Saturday in the 2015 Asia-Pacific Invitational Taekwondo Championships.

Bermejo was on attack mode from the start and subdued Jeong Seo Jin Sungshin, 14-12, to advance in the semifinals of the women’s -49 kg at SM City here.

“I knew I have to be aggressive from the start and it paid off,” said the 17-year-old UAAP silver medalist from Ateneo.

Also advancing to the semifinals was Ilao, who completely dominated Mongolia’s Boldbaatar Namuun, 12-1, that forced the referee to stop the fight after the second round.

Ilao is scheduled to next meet flyweight Kim Geun-young of South Korea, a 17-11 winner over national pool member Cara Nicole Vidallion.

Bermejo faces the winner between Vietnam’s Truong Thi Kim Tuyen and Momoko Kamichika of Japan in the meet sanctioned by the World Taekwondo Federation and participated in by nine countries.

Wasber Rassad of Basilan was also impressive in the men’s flyweight division after soundly defeating Geremy Escolta of the United States, 20-7.

Coached by Japoy Lizardo, the 20-year-old Rassad frustrated Escolta with a variety of head shots capped by three consecutive blows to the upper body in the closing seconds.

“I really went after the head and got lucky,” said Rassad in Filipino, the reigning flyweight NCAA champion from Arellano University.

Enrico Edgardo Mora knocked out Joseph Emmanuel Caluag of Guam in just six seconds of the first round and will take on fellow national pool member Eddtone Bobb Lumasac in the men’s flyweight semifinals.