Taekwondo jin Kirstie Elaine Alora
KIRSTIE Elaine Alora will get a simulation of just how fierce the competition she’ll be facing in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics when she competes in the 2016 Gyeongju Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships.
Alora joined the 44-man Philippine taekwondo team to the June 30 to July 6 tournament that features the best jins in the continent.
Fighting in the women’s -67kg weight category, Alora is expected to take it easy to preserve her health with barely two months remaining before the Aug. 5 to 21 Summer Games.
“My focus is to give my best in the Olympics, so I have to avoid getting injured,” said Alora, gold medalist in the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in Burma.
She has been training for the Games with coach Roberto “Kitoy” Cruz since qualifying almost two months ago in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Pasay City.
Joining Alora in Gyeongju, Korea, are Asian champion Pauline Louise Lopez, Karen Cells, Levita Ronna Ilao, Rhezie Aragon, Nicole Abigail Cham, Paola Rose Salazar and Rheza Aragon.
The men’s side will be headed by SEA Games champions Kristopher Robert Uy and Samuel Morrison together with veteran campaigners Francis Agojo, Jenar Torillos and Arven Alcantara.
Eldridge Langit, Joaquin Mendoza Jr., Eddtone Lumasac, Abram Lance Cuvinar and Keybert Lee Lumbania are the other members of the men’s squad.
Ten junior male and eight junior female jins will also see action as well as the men’s and women’s trio in the poomsae event.