Poomsae artists to break ice for Team Phl

JAKARTA – Team Phl unleashes into action on Sunday its highly touted poomsae artists who are determined to churn out shining performances and hopefully open the floodgate of victories for Filipino bets in the 2018 Asian Games here and over in Palembang in South Sumatra.

Hitting pay dirt in the regional level and even in the world stage, the Phl poomsae artists look to do the same at the Jakarta Convention Center, hoping to deliver the first medal or even a slew of medals for the 272-strong Phl contingent in the 18th Asiad.

Four of the 20 gold medals disputed today are staked in poomsae which is being introduced in this regional sports conclave that showcases many sports not played in the Olympics.

Dustin Jacob Mella, Joerdan Dominguez, and Rodolfo Reyes Jr. compose the men’s team while Juvenile Faye Crisostomo, Rinna Babanto and Janna Dominguez Oliva make up the women’s trio in this event where participants are judged for the power, accuracy and synchronicity of their performance.

The top two bets from the Phl men’s and women’s sides also vie in the individual competition and, through these artists, the Phl contingent hopes the country would have its spot in the medal board by midafternoon.

Shooting, fencing, swimming, taekwondo, wrestling, and wushu are sports disciplines playing elimination round all the way to the finals in some events in the first day of hostilities after the opening ceremonies.

Other Filipino athletes seeing action in events that offer medals in the day are swimmer Roxanne Yu and wrestler Alvin Lobrequito even as the Blu Girls, the Phl volley belles and trap shooter Hagen Alexander Topacio start their respective quests.

Lobrequito hopes to pick up from his bronze-medal performance in the 2017 Asian Indoor-Martial Arts Games in Turkmenistan while Yu is out to improve her clocking in her bronze-medal showing in the last Southeast Asian Games.

Despite all their shortcomings, Lobrequito vows to go all out for a podium finish. He admits, though, that it’s tough.

“We’ll be competing against other athletes who are much stronger and have better techniques because of their rich experience,” said Lobrequito, one of only two Filipino wrestlers here, the other being Jefferson Manatad.

“It’s hard to develop your skills in the Philippines because we train with the same people. You don’t develop new skills and techniques with that,” Lobrequito pointed out.

For the record, the Philippines has never won an Asiad medal from wrestling since pocketing two silvers during the country’s hosting of the quadrennial meet in 1954. Team Phl had quite a showing then, with a medal haul of 14 gold, 14 silver, and 17 bronze.

Topacio, a UP public administration graduate, seeks to rekindle his silver-medal feat in the 2015 Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait. 

Then 26, Topacio shot 122 of a total 125 targets in the eliminations then fired a perfect 15 in the semifinals before losing the finale to eventual gold medal winner Sik Young Lee of South Korea, 8-12.

Topacio and Sik outshot two Kuwaitis, a Chinese and an Indian in the semifinals.

A dampener then was the IOC executive board’s decision to revoke the Olympic qualifying status of the Asian Championships due to Kuwait’s suspension in the IOC rolls then.

With an elimination-round score of 122, Topacio would have automatically made the Rio Olympics.