RP jins reset sights to Asian qualifiers

MANCHESTER – With only flyweight Tshomlee Go surviving the World Taekwondo Olympic Qualifying Games here last weekend, men’s national coach Roberto Cruz said the other day the Philippines will send three bets to vie for the remaining allowable slots at the Asian zone eliminations on Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Each participating country is limited to enter two men and two women in the eight total divisions in the Olympics. Since Go has qualified, the Philippines has three more berths available to gain.

Cruz said Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) president Robert Aventajado and PTA executive vice president Sung Chon Hong will decide whom to send to Vietnam and what divisions to compete in.

“The decision could be made after two weeks or maybe, after the coming Southeast Asian Championships in Vietnam,” said Cruz.

None of the four jins who saw action here will participate in the Southeast Asian Championships late this month. Cruz said 16 men and women from the elite pool, 12 from the junior ranks and 22 pay-on-your-own “wildcards” will make up the delegation. In all, the squad will comprise about 50 jins.

Overall national coach Stephen Fernandez will supervise the team in Vietnam. Cruz and women’s coach Rocky Samson report directly to Fernandez.

Cruz said in the men’s division, the available slots for the Philippines in Beijing are in the featherweight (-68 kg.), welterweight (-80 kg.) and heavyweight (+80 kg.) classes. With Go locking up a slot, the Philippines can send only one male competitor to the Asian qualifiers.

Alex Briones, who lost to British hope Aaron Cook in the world qualifiers, is a leading candidate to go to Vietnam for the Asian eliminations. If the decision is to send an entry in the featherweight division, the pick could be Doha Asian Games bronze medalist Manuel Rivero Jr.

With flyweight Kathleen Eunice Alora and welterweight Toni Rivero failing to advance in the world qualifiers, Cruz said they will be considered candidates for the Asian leg.

Rivero, 19, was a win shy of qualifying here so she is likely to be recalled for Vietnam. Alora, 20, lost in her first world qualifiers match and hopes to still prove herself worthy of an Olympic berth in the Asian joust.

Cruz said Hong will carefully study the results of the world qualifiers and identify the Asian contenders who did not make it as they will tighten the race in Vietnam.

“We’ll see which are the toughest divisions and try to keep our players in classes where there are better chances of qualifying,” said Cruz.

In the women’s category, the Philippines is permitted to send two entries. Cruz said the decision doesn’t only involve naming the two participants but also designating which divisions they’ll play in. The four women’s classes are flyweight (-49 kg.), featherweight (-57 kg.), welterweight (-67 kg.) and heavyweight (+67 kg.).

To recap, Alora opened the Philippine campaign here with a 4-3 loss to Sweden’s Hannah Zajc. Go beat Yemen’s Akram Ahmed Ahmed Abdullah, 4-1, then won by walkover as neither Libya’s Abdulrouf Mohamed Gerwash nor Itaq’s Ahmed Kasim Kadim showed up before trimming Denmark’s Philip Reyes in sudden death. Reyes, 27, is a full-blooded Filipino who was born in Copenhagen. Go’s biggest win was a 2-1 squeaker over Thailand’s Chutchawal Khawloar, the World Cup and Asian champion. He lost to Chinese-Taipei’s Mu Yen Chu, the 2004 Athens Olympic flyweight gold medalist, on a 7-0 shutout in the semifinals but rebounded to grab the bronze in a repechage match over Byoumi.

Then came Rivero’s exit and finally, Briones’ loss to British hope Aaron Cook.

In a post-mortem, Samson told the jins to think positively, look forward, train harder and never give up. “You should be proud of yourselves,” he said. “You were chosen to represent our country and you fought with honor. Those who didn’t qualify can get another chance in the Asian eliminations.”

Samson pointed out that with over 350 jins from some 105 countries in the world qualifiers, the odds were against the Philippines to qualify even one of four aspirants because the playing field was highly competitive.

“Nearly everyone was a champion,” said Samson. “Tshom’s qualification was a big achievement for the country.”