Rivero on right track

Veteran internationalist Mary Antoinette Rivero showed her readiness for the Beijing Olympics by bagging a silver medal in the just-concluded 18th Asian taekwondo championships in Zhengzhou, China.

Earning a second Olympic slot after her stint in Athens four years ago, Rivero dropped a close 1-2 decision to China’s Guo Yuntel in the finals after hurdling Kazakhstan’s Nurkina Llya and Iraq’s Sali Salam Mohammed in her first two fights in the tourney where the Petron/Smart Philippine team finished fifth overall.

Fighting in the welterweight division, the youthful Filipino jin outclassed Nurkina, who, like her, will see action in the upcoming Beijing Games, 6-1, and then won by disqualification over Mohammed.

“Toni’s (Rivero) silver-medal performance means we’re on the right track in our bid to win the first ever Olympic gold for our country,” said Philippine Taekwondo Association president Robert Aventajado and delegation head Sung Hong Chon.

The other Filipino Olympic qualifier, bantam Tshomlee Go, failed to make it past the quarterfinals, losing to an Iranian after scoring a 5-3 victory over his Afghanistan rival in his first match.

But four other Filipinos-fins John Paul Lizardo and Jyra Lizardo, fly Loraine Lorelie Catalan and middleweight Alexander Briones – snatched a bronze medal each.

John Paul Lizardo dropped a close 0-1 decision to his Korean foe after hurdling Macao’s Chhoun Sarun, 6-1, and his Indon and Saudi Arabian rivals, 7-0 and 2-1, respectively.

Jyra Marie Lizardo trounced Macao’s Pun Oil, 7-1, and Kazakhstan’s Kabira Yeva Zharkyn, 2-1, but fell to Iran’s Fatemeh Nemati, 2-6, in a vital semifinal bout.

Catalan hurdled Uzbekistan’s Alimova Fatima, 2-0, and Japan’s Kasahara Erika, 4-0, but failed to get past China’s Wa Jingyu, 2-4, while Briones whipped Japan’s Miyagawa Kenta, 4-1, before losing to Iran’s Ali Mezher Merten.

Bantam Esther Marie Singson, lightweight Marlon Avenido, fly Jeffrey Figueroa and feather Dennis Resaba also fought well, but failed to progress beyond the quarterfinals.

Singson nipped her Kazahkstan opponent, 2-1, and lost by sudden death to a Thai after they wound up tied at 3, while Avenido beat his Syrian foe, 6-1, before he was bounched by an Iranian, 4-1.

Figueroa won, 2-0, over a Yemeni and dropped a close 1-2 decision to an Afghan, while Resaba beat his Mongolian opponent, 3-1, but lost by the same count to a Kazahkstan jin.