Cruz leans on surprise element in Rio

MANILA, Philippines – Taekwondo coach Roberto Cruz said the other day the chances of Biñan, Laguna, bet Kirstie Elaine Alora to bag a medal at the Rio Olympics hinge on the element of surprise as the World No. 131 jin is a huge underdog in the +67 heavyweight division.

There are 16 competitors in Alora’s category. Under the Olympic qualifying system, the world’s top six ranked fighters were awarded automatic tickets. Two slots were allocated for each of the qualifying tournaments in Europe, Africa, Pan America and Asia. One slot was given to Oceania and the last went to an invited wildcard, Nisha Rawal of Nepal. Alora and Cambodia’s Sorn Seavmey made it out of Asia.

“Elaine is one of the low ranked qualifiers,” said Cruz, a taekwondo quarterfinalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics where the sport was introduced as a medal event. “It’s an opportunity for us because scouts are focused on the favorites. Nobody’s looking at Elaine. It’s like what happened when she qualified last April. Nobody expected her to qualify but out of nowhere, she made it. We’re hoping to surprise everyone in Rio.”

Cruz left Manila with Alora and the main bulk of the Philippine delegation for Rio last night. Alora won’t compete until Aug. 20. Cruz said the long wait will give Alora more training time. “Right now, Elaine weighs about 74 to 75 kilograms,” he said. “We want her to go down to her fighting weight of 72 or 73. We don’t want her to be too heavy. She needs to be light and quick. We’re following the strength and conditioning program set up by Jay Futalan. We’ll train everyday in Rio like we do in Manila. I’ll spar with her. She’s up against the world’s best so she has to be at her peak.”

The six automatic qualifiers are China’s 2015 World Championships silver medalist Zheng Shuyin, Serbia’s defending Olympic gold medalist Milica Mandic, Great Britain’s 2015 World Championships gold medalist Bianca Walkden, USA’s 2015 World Championships bronze medalist Jackie Galloway, France’s 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Gwladys Epangue and Mexico’s 2008 Olympic gold and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Maria Espinoza.

“Elaine’s morale is high,” said Cruz. “She works extra hard in training, realizing this is a once in a lifetime experience. It’s extremely difficult to qualify for the Olympics. Last year, Elaine competed overseas only once or twice. She couldn’t compete at the Southeast Asian Games because organizers took out the heavyweight category. Most of the Olympic qualifiers gain a lot of exposure fighting in open competitions, particularly in Europe. That’s where they get points to improve their world ranking. In Europe, it’s easy to participate in open competitions because the host countries are close to each other. It’s not easy if you’re in the Philippines as travel is expensive and the open competitions are far away. If we could only provide more international experience for our fighters, it will go a long way in making us tougher for competitions like the Olympics.”

Cruz, 43, said qualifying Alora for Rio was quite an achievement considering the Philippines was not represented in taekwondo at the 2012 Olympics. Cruz, Donnie Geisler, Eva Marie Ditan and Jennifer Strachan were the country’s taekwondo qualifiers in 2000. Geisler, Tshomlee Go and Toni Rivero made it in 2004. Go and Rivero repeated in 2008.

Cruz said the degree of subjectivity in scoring points has been dramatically reduced with the introduction of electronic sensors in body protectors at the 2012 Olympics. Sensors will be placed in headgear for the first time in Rio. “The objective of taekwondo athletes remains the same – to strike the torso and head of the opponent with kicks and blows,” said Patricia de Matta in the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) website. “The difference is that now, they wear magnetized socks and have impact sensors in body and head protectors. The idea is to minimize the chances of refereeing errors since blows to the head are worth three times more than blows to the torso and often decide contests.”

  WTF technical delegate Phillippe Bouedo said, “New technology has given transparency to the sport. In London, we inserted sensors into the vests but not the headwear. In Rio, we will have both.” Another innovation in Rio is the fighters will now perform on an octagon mat.

Cruz said despite the introduction of the electronic system, each match will still be supervised by three referees or judges. At least two of the three judges must press a button on a console box within seconds of each other to reflect additional points. “A kick to the body will reflect only one point on the electronic sensor but if it’s a turning kick, you should earn two more points from the judges,” explained Cruz. “If it’s a turning kick to the head, you should earn three more points. If the judges don’t count it, a coach can ask for a video replay. Asking for a video replay has no limit for as long as it confirms your call but once you ask for a video replay and it proves you wrong, you lose the privilege of asking for another video replay.”

Cruz said the video replay may be called during a round. Each match is scheduled for three two-minute rounds. The video replay was used to reverse the outcome of a match involving Great Britain’s Sarah Stevenson at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She scored a decisive blow in the final seconds of her bout but the judges ignored it. The video replay showed it was a legitimate blow and Stevenson was declared the winner. The incident led to a series of WTF innovations to improve the scoring system.