Filipino Taekwondo jins bag gold, silver, bronze medals at Asian Meet

Diliman Preparatory School president and former senator Nikki Coseteng and Sung Chon Hong, vice president of the Philippine Taekwondo Association pose with the Philippine team in the just concluded Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam—Filipino poomsae jins won one gold, two silver and one bronze medals, as the Philippines finished fourth overall in the second Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championships held here at Phu Tho Stadium recently.

Women’s Team stalwarts Camille Alarilla, Rani Ortega and Janice Lagman power their way to a silver finish.

Jean Pierre Sabido, Galilee Tinaya and Marvin Gabriel dominated the most difficult category of the meet (Men’s Team Under-29), by turning in rock-solid and technically dramatic performances of the Pyongwon and Sipjin forms in the finals. The two forms, which contain some of the most physically demanding blackbelt movements in Taekwondo Poomsae, served as the Philippine team’s ticket to glory as they turned back powerhouse rivals   Vietnam, Chinese Taipei and Iran in a thrilling, down-the-wire showdown.

But former world champions Rani Ortega, Janice Lagman and Camille Alarilla fell short in the Women’s Team Under-29 category. They settled for second place behind the precision juggernaut of Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Thu Ngan, Chau Tuyet Van and Nguyen Thi Xuan Linh in the final canto of the women’s battle royale.

Edrick Galing, Ernesto Guzman and Glenn Lava took an emotional silver medal finish in the Men’s Team Over-29 category, behind Iran. Galing, a national team veteran and martial arts coach at Planet Infinity Club in Quezon City, described the experience as  “a dream come true, considering that I had to team up with very good younger players like Glen and Buboy (Ernesto), and keep up with them physically and mentally.”

Guzman made it to the podium one more time as he snagged a bronze medal in the men’s individual Under-39 competition, which was eventually won by Korean Sung-Hey Kim.

Philippine mixed pair Marvin Gabriel and Shaneen Sia display grace under pressure in the finals.

The Koreans swept all six individual events to emerge the top nation in the Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championships.

Host Vietnam (two golds, five silvers and three bronzes) finished second overall, followed by iran (2-3-6), the Philippines (1-2-1) then Thailand (1-1-1).