Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 21) – 2016 Rio Olympian Kirstie Alora emerged as the lone Filipino medalist in the recently concluded 2021 Asian Taekwondo Championships held at Beirut, Lebanon.
The Filipina taekwondo sensation took home the silver medal in the women’s +73kg division after falling to South Korea’s Do Hee Yoon in the finals, 5-14. Alora secured a quarterfinal bye and narrowly beat Kazakhstan’s Axaule Yerkassimova, 9-8, in the semifinals.
Seven other Filipino taekwondo jins settled for a quarterfinal finish in their respective divisions.
Female jins Pauline Lopez, Laila Delo, and Veronica Garces were dominated by their respective Iranian opponents as they failed to capitalize on their Round-of-16 byes. Jessica Canabal also suffered the same fate after being swept by Uzbekistan’s Charos Kayumova, 20-0.
Arven Alcantara and Dave Cea were edged by their respective foes from Uzbekistan, while veteran Filipino jin Samuel Morrison lost to Olympic athlete Saleh Al-Sharabaty with an 11-32 score.
Meanwhile, four Filipino jins got eliminated early in the Round-of-16. They are Rommel Pablo Jr., Kurt Pajuelas, Joseph Chua, and Rheza Aragon.
Filipino para-taekwondo bet Allain Ganapin made a quarterfinal finish in the continental tournament, his preparation for the upcoming Tokyo Paralympics.
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The Philippine poomsae team recently bagged 10 medals in the Asian championships.
