Pinay jins win RP’s 1st gold in Laos SEA Games

Taekwondo jins Rani Ann Ortega, Camille Alarilla and Janice Lagman gave the Philippines its first gold medal in the 25th Southeast Asian Games Wednesday on the same day that the meet officially opened in Vientiane, Laos. Ortega, Alarilla and Lagman flaunted the form that made them world champions in taekwondo’s poomsae event (form) in snaring the gold of the competition that made its debut in the regional meet.

Just recently, the trio also bagged the gold in the 4th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Cairo, Egypt. Settling for runner-up honors behind the RP trio were silver medalists A. Panida, T. Pich-Chapcha and Salisa Amnuaychai of Thailand and bronze medalists Chau Tuyet Van, Duong T Huynh Mai, and Nguyen Thu Ngan of Vietnam. With their almost fluid synchronized moves, the Filipinas scored 16.97 points out of a possible 20 to score the narrow triumph over the Thai trio (16.94) and ushered what officials hope would be plenty more golds for the country. “We are so blessed that we achieved all our goals," said Lagman of the team that topped a 56-country field in the Worlds two weeks ago. “First, we won the world championship and now the SEA Games. I guess we have made history." The triumph also made up for the disappointing third place finishes by their male counterparts and by the Jean Sabido-Ortega tandem in the mixed pair. Go, Rivero take their turn After the poomsae bets temporarily held the fort, two-time Olympians Tshomlee Go, Antoinette Rivero and the rest of the RP taekwondo squad take their turn as they go all-out in their bid for redemption. Rivero leads the five jins competing for six golds at the start of sparring event Thursday at the Booyoung Gymnasium inside the sprawling National University. The 21-year-old Rivero is entered in her pet event, the 67kg class (welterweight), where she won a silver medal in the 2007 edition of the biennial meet in Thailand. The Filipino jins only brought home a single gold in the last SEA Games in Thailand, courtesy of Go, with the others having to settle for the silver, including Rivero, as alleged dubious officiating marred many of the gold medal matches. But all is water under the bridge now as the team looks forward to a more productive campaign a day after the success of the women’s poomsae team. “We’re hoping for a good share of the officiating this time," said team manager Rocky Samson. “But looking at the draw, I can say maganda ang laban natin. Aside from Rivero, also competing Thursday are Marlon Avenido, Alexander Briones, Criselda Roxas and Kirstie Elaine Alora. Avenido will be fighting in the men’s welterweight (under 80 kg) while Briones will be seeing action in the heavyweight class (over 87 kg). Roxas, an Arts Management student at St. Benilde, will be the country’s bet in the under 73 class (middleweight), while Alora, a gold medalist in the 2005 SEA Games, will fight as a heavyweight. “Lahat tayo may chance for the gold," said Alora. - GMANews.TV