PH men’s poomsae team bags back-to-back SEAG golds

The Philippine poomsae team of (L to R) Rodolfo Reyes Jr., Dustin Jacob Mella and Raphael Enrico Mella performs its routine in the finals of men’s poomsae team event of the 29th Southeast Asian Games taekwondo competition Saturday at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. The Filipinos took home the gold medal. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/SEA GAMES MEDIA POOL

KUALA LUMPUR — The Philippines scored a gold medal in taekwondo men’s team poomsae via defending champion Dustin Jacob Mella, Raphael Enrico Mella and Rodolfo Reyes Jr. Saturday in the 29th Southeast Asian Games Saturday.

Completing a routine with grace and snap, the Philippines accumulated 8.40 points to overcome title favorite Malaysia (8.34).

Former world champion Rani Ortega hugged the three jins, whom she had mentored after the scores were flashed on the screen of the KLCC Hall 1.

It was a big relief for the Philippine taekwondo team here as Malaysian competitors were getting scores deemed too high for their performances.

“We didn’t play like we are the defending champion. We still worked on it like this was our first time,” said Dustin.

Dustin and Raphael won the same event in 2013 with a different teammate, and the 2015 edition with Reyes in tow.

“I said to myself I will avenge my defeat,” said a teary-eyed Reyes after it was clear that they won the gold. Malaysia was second and Indonesia was third (8.04).

Reyes, earlier, vied for gold but ended up with bronze in the men’s individual event which the Malaysian took.

The trio won bronze in the World Championships in 2014 before bagging the 2015 SEA Games gold in Singapore.

“We are very happy because we worked very hard for it,” said Dustin who along with the team also won bronze in the 2016 World Championships in Peru and this year’s Korea Open.

The women’s team of Jocel Lyn Ninobla, Rinna Babanto and Juvenille Faye Crisostomo in poomsae won bronze in the event with a score of 8.27.

Vietnam ruled the event with 8.43, while Thailand was second with 8.37.