Taekwondo jins sweep first four golds

The RP jins lived up to their pre-tournament hype as they swept the four gold medals staked in taekwondo last night to sustain the country’s relentless charge in various fronts in the second day of full action in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games yesterday.

Olympiad veterans Tshomlee Go and Donald Geisler and Esther Marie Singson pulled off thrilling victories over their respective opponents while Marie Antoinette Rivero, another veteran of the Athens Olympics, dominated her rival in the lighweight division in what could be the most explosive start by the team in any taekwondo competition.

Go nipped Vu Anh Tuan of Vietnam, 2-1, to bag the bantamweight gold; Geisler edged Patiwat Thongsalap of Thailand, 7-6, to retain the lightweight gold; and Singson pulled off a 4-2 win over Indon Juana Wangsa Putri to claim the bantamweight gold in the women’s side at the Astrodome.

Rivero, on the other hand, outclassed Voppy Trismawanty of Indonesia, 5-1, to cap the local jins’ awesome start that augured well for their bid for a possible sweep of 16 gold medals up for grabs in the three-day tournament.

So inspiring was the RP bets’ performance that it virtually assured itself of surpassing its five-gold, three-silver, six-bronze medal haul in the 2003 Games in Vietnam.

Welterweights Alex Briones and Ma.Criselda Roxas try to keep the momentum of the RP jins’ first day romp as they lead the hosts’ bid in the second day of action which offers six gold medals tonight.

Among the country’s other gold hopefuls are finweights John Paul "Japoy" Lizardo and Kathleen Alora, flyweights Jeffrey Figueroa and Loraine Catalan. — Bong Castro