UST jin, 15, captures Asian Juniors gold

Giorgio Von Gerri De Guzman put the country on the world junior taekwondo stage when he bagged the gold medal in the flyweight division in the recent second Asian Juniors Taekwondo Championships in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

The 15-year-old De Guzman outclassed Ryan Chong of Malaysia, 6-3, in the final match to become the first and youngest Filipino jin to win the gold in the tough Asian Championships.

Ma. Criselda Roxas (light heavyweight) and Antoniette Rivero (middleweight) added two silvers and Sarah Joy Arellano (bantamweight) a bronze to the Philippine team total medal haul which surpassed the lone silver and five bronze medals the team won in the 2001 Asian Juniors Taekwondo Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.

Other members of the elite junior national squad were John Paul Lizardo, Tristan Tioson, Zaldy Bautista, Jeffrey Figueroa, Brix Ramos, Kervin Ong, Precious Malit, Gerrielyn Decatus, Sabrina Simbulan, Esther Marie Singson, Elaine Alora, Jan Ross Pacquing and Eunice Alora.

A US Open veteran and silver medalist in the 2000 Korea Open (World Taekwondo Festival), De Guzman was a product of PTC Batch 2 and a consistent UAAP gold medalist. He was voted the Most Valuable Player in the 65th UAAP Junior Taekwondo Championships and is the team captain of UAAP champion UST junior taekwondo team.