Team Philippines’ Allain Ganapin competing in the Paris Paralympics 2024 taekwondo event. –PARALYMPICS YOUTUBE
PARIS—Allain Ganapin hardly shed a tear after his farewell bout in the taekwondo competitions of the 17th Paralympic Games.
Despite dropping his round-of-16 encounter at the iconic Grand Palais, it only emboldened the 26-year-old Ganapin to become a better version of himself in future meets.
“Although I didn’t make it to the medal stage, I’m happy with my performance,’’ said Ganapin after Azerbaijan’s Abulfaz Aburzarli showed him the door, 12-9, in the men’s 80-kilogram K44 division on Saturday.
Cool and calm, Ganapin seemed headed for a win after leading, 9-6, midway into their faceoff, threatening to upset the world cup champion Aburzarli.
Ganapin was visibly not on the radar of the veteran Aburzarli, who adjusted in the final minutes to steal the match and deny the Filipino taekwondo ace a pass to the quarterfinal.
“I thought I could grab a win. I knew I could do it,’’ said Ganapin, who defeated Hadi Hassanzada of the Refugee Paralympic Team, 22-13, in his opening bout.
On a brighter note, Ganapin knew that he’s a changed man in these Paralympics after refusing to be cowed by the glittering atmosphere against the best physically-challenged jins in the world.“I was able to express myself here and there’s an urge to do better next time,’’ said Ganapin. “I felt no pressure, which is surprising. I didn’t feel this way in training.’’
Ganapin trained with the University of Santo Tomas taekwondo team under coach Gershon Bautista and noted the difficulty that he had gone through in his preparation.
“Recovery from body pains was a problem, but you cannot complain. It’s part of the training,’’ said Ganapin, whose right arm is amputated up to the elbow due to a congenital disorder.
Even Bautista can see a well-rounded Ganapin moving forward.
“I guess (in the future) we should need to focus on how he adapts during the match,’’ said Bautista.