‘Lady Savage’ strikes gold

You wouldn’t think a five-foot feminine pixie could be such a wildcat. But looks are deceiving in Rachel Mangabat Marcial’s case.

Rachel, nicknamed "Lady Savage," is the rage in the Samsung Best of the Best national taekwondo championships at Glorietta Activity Center in Makati. On and off the mat, she’s a jaw-dropping head-turner. Her mother Becky says she’s been approached by fans asking her to try out for the movies.

"It’s not everyday you find a feisty, sexy, beautiful young thing like Rachel," gushes Becky proudly. "She’s a standout. The guys ogle and even the girls stare. But she doesn’t care for the attention. She’s a fighter, period. The showbiz stuff can come later."

Rachel, 20, was hardly threatened on the way to the finweight (under 103.4 pounds) gold at the Glorietta the other day. She waylaid three opponents via lopsided scores of 8-2, 8-0 and 7-0. Now, Rachel is itching to fight Filipina Olympian Eva Marie Ditan who missed the Samsung tilt to compete at the World Cup in Tokyo.

Last year, Ditan beat Rachel, 1-0, in the National Open. It was a verdict that Rachel’s father Gerry says stunk to the heavens. "Eva’s the darling of Philippine taekwondo so it’s next to impossible for anyone to beat her here," insists Gerry who works for United Airlines. "Besides, Rachel trains in the US and I know, if you don’t train here, you’re not eligible for the national team." Gerry says protecting Ditan won’t do her any good.

"The Samsung tournament is supposed to showcase the best of the best but Eva’s not around so how can it be the best of the best," notes Gerry. "Why not a one-on-one match between Eva and Rachel to decide who’s really No. 1? But I hope the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) guarantees a fair fight with unbiased judges and a neutral center referee."

Rachel, born in the US to Filipino parents, began competing in open-point tournaments in 1991 but switched to Olympic-style competitions three years later because "she didn’t enjoy the game of tag and wanted more of a challenge," according to the United States Taekwondo Union (USTU). She’s the only Filipina profiled among 40 jins in the USTU website. The top 40 fighters – four to five per weight class – were picked from 10,000 jins in the US.

Rachel – who traces her roots to Bicol, Batangas and Ilocos– graduated at Notre Dame’s High School for Girls in Belmont, near San Francisco, and is a sophomore at the Air Force University. In 1996, she was invited by the US Olympic Committee to train full-time in Colorado Springs but her parents refused to let her go. "We wanted Rachel to grow up with her family so she could learn to appreciate Filipino values," says Gerry.

Becky says her daughter fights for the Air Force taekwondo team. "She was recruited not to go to war nor to be a soldier," she explains. "Rachel was recruited for taekwondo. She fights for the Air Force at the Military Games and the collegiate championships."

Rachel was recently named to the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) collegiate team and is in line for an invitation to fight for the US at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She’s already beaten the top two US finweights, Kay Poe and Esther Kim, so the door is open for the Olympics. Rachel recently took the bronze at the US Open despite a two-month layoff from training to report to the Air Force boot camp.

If the PTA invites Rachel to fight for the Philippines, she’ll wear the national colors – at the Asian Games in Busan, at the Olympics, wherever.

However, Gerry says because of Rachel’s commitments in the Air Force, she will not be able to train here. "Anyone can see that Rachel has improved year after year and she’s not training in the Philippines," adds Gerry. "If the PTA insists that she trains here, it just can’t happen."

In the US, Rachel trains four to six hours a day, seven days a week. Taekwondo is her passion. She was introduced to the sport when she was nine and has matured to become a 1st Dan Black Belter like her father.

Her grandfather Eduardo Marcial, a retired Philippine Airlines station engineer at the San Francisco Airport, says "it will be an honor for Rachel and our family if she could someday compete for the Philippines." Eduardo and his wife Ines migrated to the US with their children Gerry, Rey and Ana Marie in 1968.

In 1999, Rachel captured the Best Fighter award in powering Master Sung Chon Hong’s squad under coach Ramil Abratique to the National Open title. She swept her five assignments. Last year, Rachel was back to compete at the National Open but settled for third place after losing a disputed decision to Ditan.

After winning the Samsung gold last Tuesday, Rachel gained an automatic slot in the national pool. What that means, Gerry doesn’t know because she definitely isn’t able to train here.

Incidentally, Rachel’s younger sister Nicole competed in the Samsung tournament, too.

Rachel, Nicole and their parents flew in last week and will stay until Monday. Aside from competing at the Samsung meet, the Marcial girls are in town to attend a cousin’s wedding, visit relatives and gorge on their favorite Filipino dish dinuguan.