PHL jins hope to retain world poomsae titles

In 2009, the women’s trio of Rani Ann Ortega, Camille Alarilla and Janice Lagman made the sporting headlines by winning the poomsae world championship in Cairo, thus also gained much attention for the new sport. The men’s team of Anthony Matias and brothers Jean Pierre and Brian Sabido followed it up by quietly winning a world title of their own the following year in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Will 2011 unfold the same story for the Philippine poomsae team? National team coach Igor Mella said that they will certainly try to do a repeat of the Philippine team’s performance in the past two years, and maybe even sweep the world titles. "The possibility is there. This early, we have been preparing hard every day. We want to maintain the wins," Mella said. Mella said that the six poomsae jins have begun training in preparation for the world championships as well as the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia. At this point, Mella said that they are in the process of formalizing the members of the training pool, but that spots for the world championships are still up for grabs. He added that they want to keep the previous team, but will also look at other players that could help carry the Philippine flag to victory in the 6th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Vladivostok, Russia. "Although they are world champions, their inclusion will still depend on their training and performance. As much as we want to retain them, we are also open to new players," Mella said. Mella added that although the Filipino jins will be among those favored to dominate the SEA Games’ poomsae competitions, other countries, particularly arch-rival Vietnam, are also preparing hard to foil the Philippine campaign. "The team event is very tough, but we’ve high hopes of contributing to our county’s gold medal harvest," said Mella. Poomsae, a non-contact discipline of taekwondo, was introduced as an official SEA Games sport two years ago in Laos, where the women’s team won the gold along with three bronze medals. – JVP, KY, GMA News