Manila jins propel RP to overall crown

Five Manila youth standouts delivered impressive performances at the 2002 World Taekwondo Festival – fifth Korean Open last July 2-5 in Chung Cheong, South Korea, helping carry Team Philippines to the over-all championship. The team won 13 gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals.

Bannering the big city bets were sisters Rotrice and Rochelle Lavalan, who both snatched gold medals in the female young junior (12 years and below) finweight and lightweight categories, respectively, while Paolo Angeles took the gold in the men young junior light welterweight class.

Manila’s Raffy de Jesus settled for the silver medal in the men young juniors welterweight category while Gyle Geñoso bagged the bronze in the finweight division.

"The City Government of Manila is very proud of our children-athletes and we are committed to support their training and full development," said Manila Mayor Lito Atienza.

"These young jins are products of the Manila Youth Games (MYG) and their performances validate the effectivity of our grassroots development thrust, considering the tough grind they had to undergo in Korea — the world’s taekwondo hotbed," said delegation head Arnold "Ali" Atienza, chief of the Manila Sports Council (MASCO).

The Manila jins are set to pay a courtesy call on Mayor Atienza tomorrow at the Manila City Hall and are expected to receive cash incentives.

Other team members, who came from various localities and provinces in the country, likewise gave sterling performances winning gold medals. Among them were bantams Pauline Reyes and Rei Vincent Sambo, middleweight Elaine Alora, welter Andre Perez, and light welter Precious Malit.

In the juniors (13-17 years) division, gold medallists were flyweight Eunice Alora, finweight Pamela Cababasay, and lightweight Richilda Erlandez. Angelito Ong won the gold in the men senior finweight category.

Silver medalists in the young junior class were welterweight Sabrina Simbulan, light welter Jessica Ballesteros, finweight Rio dela Cruz, and feather RJ Moncada in the junior class.

Anthony Ong also bagged the gold in the Individual Compulsory Poomse event while Angelito Ong settled for the silver.

In the Group Kyukpa event, the RP jins, composed of Anthony Ong, Angelito Ong, Mark Arad, Ronald delos Reyes, Everett Lim, Lloyd Tajan, Lawrence Plata, and RJ Moncada, snatched the silver medal, while in the Group Compulsary Poomse event, the trio of Angelito Ong, Anthony Ong, and Mark Arad also took home the silver.