Five Pinoy taekwondo medalists arrive

The five taekwondo jins who won two silvers and three bronze medals in the 15th Asian Games arrived home yesterday afternoon from Doha, Qatar with seven other Filipino athletes who participated in the Games.

Silver medalists Antoinette Rivero, 18, and Tshomlee Go, 25, and bronze medalists Eunice Alora, 19, Veronica Domingo, 27, and Manuel Rivero Jr., 24, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal I, on board a Qatar Airways flight from Doha along with other members of the Philippine taekwondo and bowling teams.

Rivero said she was disappointed with her silver-medal finish and she vowed to train harder to win a gold medal, hopefully in the Olympics.

Robert Aventajado, chairman of the Philippine Olympic Committee and president of the Philippine Taekwondo Association, was proud of the strong showing of the jins in the Asian Games.

"We’re very happy, they performed well. They did their best," Aventajado told airport reporters at the NAIA Terminal I VIP Lounge.

Aventajado said the performance of the taekwondo team in Doha is a good sign for their next international competition, the Olympic Games in Beijing, China next year.

"Hopefully, we’ll get the gold in Beijing," Aventajado observed as he pointed out that the Asian Games was almost equal in level to the Olympics since the best in Asia are mostly the front-runners in the Olympics.

Aventajado said the Philippines was certain to get gold medals in the Asian Games in pool. He said other gold medal hopefuls are in boxing and wushu.