Alora fails to advance

MANCHESTER – Flyweight contender Kathleen Eunice Alora became the Philippines’ first casualty as she lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Swedish veteran Hannah Zajc in the preliminaries of the -49 kg division for women at the World Olympic Taekwondo Qualifying Games in the MEN (Manchester Evening News) Arena here Friday.

It was a painful setback for the 20-year-old La Salle student who claimed a bronze medal at the last Asian Games in Doha. She was expected to hurdle her initial assignment and beat Pakistan’s Hran Bang, who drew a bye, in her next bout on the way to a medal finish. But Zajc refused to cooperate.

In the first round, Zajc took an early 1-0 lead on a counter kick that appeared to cramp Alora’s aggressive style. Alora retaliated to tie the count before the Swede landed another kick to make it 2-1 at the end of two minutes. There was little action in the second as Zajc continued to lead, 3-2. A series of counter kicks to Alora’s trunk protector erected a 5-2 advantage for Zajc. Alora closed the gap to 5-3 then a point was deducted from Zajc’s scorecard after two warnings for deliberately killing the clock by avoiding contact.

Alora ran out of time to force an extension and wept when the fight ended. 

“Eunice prepared hard for this event,” said women’s coach Rocky Samson. “We didn’t expect this loss. Zajc had a simple countering style. Eunice is a lot more skillful but lacked her opponent’s power. There were a few kicks I thought Eunice landed that didn’t count in the scoring. That’s not an excuse. Eunice knocked Zajc down with a kick in the third round but no point was given. I don’t know if two of the judges didn’t see it because of a blind spot.”

In a match, four judges are situated in the far corners of the 10-meter by 10 meter mat. For a fighter to earn a point, three of the four judges must press a button in a computerized console box within a split second. Two points are awarded for a strike on the head with an additional point for a knockdown.

Samson said he told Alora before the third round to go for two quick points to erase Zajc’s lead.

“In the last minute and a half, Eunice tried to initiate the action but couldn’t score clearly,” said Samson. “She tried her best. It just wasn’t her time.”

Six-time SEA Games gold medalist and men’s coach Roberto (Kitoy) Cruz described Zajc as an older, stronger and more experienced fighter who knows the game. “May laro rin ang kalaban,” he said. “I thought we would win this one but it just goes to show how tough this tournament is. The world’s best fighters are here and anyone has a chance to win.”

Alora’s consolation is she has another opportunity to vie for an Olympic ticket at the Asian zone qualifiers in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 29-Dec. 2. 

The flyweight finalists who booked slots in Beijing were Chinese-Taipei’s Shu Chun Yung and Cuba’s Daynellis Montejo Poli. Fighting in a playoff for the third Olympic ticket were losing semifinalists Ivett Gonda of Canada and Brigitte Yague of Spain.

Thai bet Boorapolchai Yaowapa, a 2004 Athens Olympic bronze medalist, was devastating in her first win over Russia’s Anna Soboleva who suffered a knockdown from an axe kick. But Boorapolchai got hurt in the process and withdrew from her next match against Malaysia’s Elaine Teo Shueh Fhern.

Other finalists who qualified for Beijing were England’s Sarah Stevenson in the heavyweight class for women and Mali’s 6-5 Daba Modibo Keita and Mickael Borot of France in the heavyweight division for men.