Taekwondo do-or-die

Fil-Am jin Rachel Marcial is challenging Sydney Olympian Eva Marie Ditan to a do-or-die duel for the right to represent the country in the finweight division of women’s taekwondo at the 14th Asian Games in Busan on Sept. 29-Oct. 14.

Marcial, born in the US to Filipino parents, says Ditan should earn her way to Busan and not take a free ride. She claims Ditan is being shielded by the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) to preserve her spot on the national team bound for Busan.

Ditan, Donald Geisler, and Roberto Cruz showed up at the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum at the Holiday Inn Hotel last week to declare themselves battle-ready for the Asiad.

Geisler and Cruz won gold medals at the recent National Open but Ditan was conspicuously absent in the tournament which saw Marcial lose to Daleen Cordero in a quarterfinal match. Ditan reportedly nursed an injury.

Marcial’s father Gerry suspects a conspiracy to protect Ditan from his daughter. "Rachel won her first two matches then went up against Daleen who, we know, has competed either as a flyweight or bantamweight in previous tournaments," notes Gerry. "I brought scales to check on Daleen’s weight before the match but Elmer Pato (tournament director) assured me she made the weight at the weigh-in. I didn’t push it. I took Elmer’s word for it. I left it up to Rachel whether or not to fight, considering she’s only 103 pounds and Daleen, at least 112."

Gerry explains that in World Taekwondo Federation competitions, jins weigh in 24 hours before their match. He says a reliable source confided that Cordero didn’t even weigh in as a privilege of a national pool athlete.

"I was willing to post a P1,000 bond for a protest before the match," says Gerry. "Never mind if I lose the money. I just wanted it on record what Daleen’s weight was."

Gerry speculates that the strategy was for Cordero to drop to finweight and embarrass his daughter to defeat with Ditan sitting out the action. As it turned out, Cordero defeated Marcial via a 5-4 decision then went on to capture the finweight gold. Cordero is expected to move up in weight for the Asian Games and relinquish her spot as a finweight to Ditan.

"Eva sees me as a threat," must Rachel. "She was at the competitions, coaching my opponents. I have nothing personal against her. I just want to prove who’s the best finweight to represent the country in Busan."

Gerry says he was told that Cordero weighed between 113 to 115 pounds for the bout against Rachel. With at least a 10-pound advantage and a four-inch edge in height, Cordero was tough to beat.

"It was explained to us that Eva did not fight because if she lost to Rachel, she would not be eligible to go to Busan," reveals Gerry. " The ploy was for Daleen to win the finweight division and relinquish the seat to Eva before the Asian Games."

Rachel was fresh from a 6-2 win over Grace Sarmiento of Far Eastern University in her second match but took a vicious kick on her left thigh–a clear foul–in the process. She faced Cordero with her thigh still throbbing.

Rachel says the odds were stacked against her from the start. "Just before we started, Daleen’s coach protested that my armor should be a size two, not a size one," she relates. "I’ve always worn a size one, even in international competitions. But I guess they make their own rules in the Philippines. I had to borrow an armor from somebody. They were playing with my mind."

In the first round, Cordero took a 4-2 lead, buoyed by two points from an axe kick. There was a tense moment when Cordero’s coach protested a call from the center referee to the head of court. Gerry says under international rules, the protest would not have been tolerated. In the second round, both jins fought to a 2-2 standoff but Cordero took a point deduction to score a final 5-4 decision. The protagonists hugged in the end.

"Daleen’s my friend," said Rachel. "She won fair and square. No excuses from me. It was a close match. I’ve known Daleen from when we met at the US Open in Hawaii two years ago. I make friends with fighters who don’t compete in my weight division. That’s why we’re good friends. So I was a little surprised that Daleen competed in a lower division at the National Open."

Gerry says it’s next to impossible for Rachel to make it to the national team. "First, she doesn’t train in the Philippines–we live in the US," he continues. "Second, the rules are different in the Philippines. Third, there is favoritism. National pool athletes are protected. Rachel is considered an invader and that’s why she’s ostracized."

Rachel, 20, is booked to compete at the US team trials in Colorado Springs on Aug. 23. She’s in line to qualify for the US team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. But Rachel says she’d rather fight for the Philippines.

Rachel flew in to capture the finweight gold at the Samsung Best of the Best meet here last July, went back to the US, and returned for the National Open. She paid her way to Manila in both trips.

"After two years, I’ll come home and settle in Manila," says Rachel, who’s training under Korean champion Hyun Suk Lee in the US Air Force squad. She stopped her sophomore studies at the College of San Mateo to concentrate on taekwondo.

Gerry says he’s willing to send Rachel to Busan and pay for her expenses just to prove she can win the gold for the Philippines.

"Rachel wants to fight as an independent for the Philippines," he says. "She’ll provide for herself, meaning she’ll get there, and pay for her own expenses. All she wants is the chance to win a gold for the country."

Unfortunately, doing it on her own isn’t possible. Unless she’s accredited by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Rachel won’t be able to suit up for the country in Busan.

When told of Rachel’s plight, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain said he heard of a similar story involving Zamboanga female jins who were not included in the PTA pool despite beating national athletes. He declined to comment on the merits of both cases.

"What’s killing Philippine sports is this bata-bata system where padrinos protect their favorites," lamented Buhain. "Next year, hopefully in September, we hope to address this problem. We’ll vacate the pool for all sports and let the athletes prove themselves in a national competition that we’ll stage like the Southeast Asian Games. This way, no athlete will get a free ride to the national team."