Alora settles for silver in SEAG taekwondo

KUALA LUMPUR – The Philippine flag bearer went down in defeat and failed to join the list of Filipino gold-medal winners in the 29th SEA Games.

In a fourth faceoff with Cambodian superstar jin Sorn Seavmey, Kirstie Elaine Alora still failed to come up with a winning stand and settled for the silver medal at the close of the taekwondo competition at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center here.

Alora remained puzzled by the rangy Asian champ and fell to a 6-13 loss in the gold-medal match of the under-73kg.

Francis Aaron Agojo fell by the wayside earlier, settling for the bronze in the under-63kg.

Thus, the Philippine taekwondo team ended up with a haul of two gold, three silver and four bronze medals.

Samuel Morrison and the men’s poomsae team accounted for the first-place finishes while Alora, Rhezie Aragon and Arven Alcantara delivered the silvers.

“I did my best. I was trying to score some points but I still lacked the follow-ups. Then the calls didn’t go my way. I couldn’t figure it out, but it’s the refs’ call. It’s a good fight and I have no regrets,” said Alora on her loss to Seavmey, the most accomplished Cambodian athlete.

“We prepared hard against her. But I still found it hard to win because of her length,” said Alora, giving away at least five inches in height on the six-foot Cambodian jin.

Alora couldn’t figure a way to connect on Seavmey, and was badly beaten as she fought carelessly in a desperate bid to overhaul a deficit that grew bigger and bigger in the final round.

“Talagang nahirapan ako. Still, I think this is my best showing against her,” said Alora, now 0-4 against her tormentor in the last Asian Games and in the Asian qualifying for the Rio Olympics.

Seavmey, turning 22 next month, went all the way to rule her class in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, thus, delivering a first ever Asiad gold to Cambodia since it started participation in the quadrennial meet in 1954.

As a star athlete, Seavmey was a flag bearer in the 2016 Rio Games where he finished in the Round of 16.

She made good use of her long reach, taking a 6-3 lead after the second round and easily repelled Alora’s desperate attacks in the third and last round.

“Because of her length, she’s intercepting my attacks. Lamang siya sa tukod niya,” said Alora.

In the semis, the Filipinas bet was overpowering versus Laos’ Sirimanotham Sonesavanh whom she stopped by withdrawal due to an injury in the second round. Alora was leading, 13-3, when the match was stopped.

Seavmey, meanwhile, crushed home bet Nurul Nur Hafizzah, 14-3.