Angeles, Reyes clinch taekwondo golds

Delta’s Paolo Angeles and Crystal Reyes lived up to their hype as the national junior team members captured the gold medals in their respective divisions at the close of the Samsung Best of the Best National Taekwondo Championships at the Glorietta in Makati yesterday.

But while Angeles coasted to a 7-3 victory over Fernand Delizo of CAR in their three-round duel to rule the flyweight class, Reyes, a mainstay of the NTU Tigers, had to go through the proverbial eye of the needle, nipping Milagros Espina of Gen. Santos in sudden death to snatch the fly gold. They earlier fought to a 3-3 tie.

The other gold medal winners in the 14-17 age group of the event sponsored by Samsung were Sidney Crispino (fin), R-Jay del Rosario (bantam), Jason Sinoy (feather), Emmanuel Paulite (light), Edward Morrison (welter) and Ephraim Arellano (middle/heavy) in the men’s side, and Abegail Punzal (fin), Countee Valenzuela (bantam), Karla Jane Alava (feather), Ivana Mabunay (light), Rubylyn Mapa (welter) and Emron Golding (middle-heavy) in the ladies division.

Grandmaster Song Chon Hong, vice president of the Philippine Taekwondo Association, and Jerry Lacson, general manager for marketing of Samsung, graced the awards rites of the event organized by IMG and backed by Burlington, Kix, Peak, The Ayala Center, The Philippine STAR and Sunbolt.

Crispino, of Blue Armor, outlasted Nicodhemus Ramos of Powerkick; Del Rosario of UST dominated Cagayan’s John Tidoy, 8-1; Sinoy, also of Gen. Santos, routed Niou Baluyot of Letran, 7-0; Paulite of Meycauayan edged UST’s Emmanuel Alivio (3-3) in sudden death; Morrison of King Tiger beat Patrick Ferrer of JTC, 10-5; and Arellano defeated Jose Anthony Soriano of Tuguegarao, 9-6.

Punzal of Ilocos Norte thwarted Kristine Chua of NTU Tigers, 7-4; Valenzuela of Olympia nipped Nikki Cantillo of Assumption-Pampanga, 1-0; Alava of RHS blasted Cebu’s Lyka Yanez, 6-2; Mabunay of Iloilo ripped Meycauayan’s Geneve Castillo, 6-3; Mapa of NTU Tigers dominated Tuguegarao’s Kricia Jereza, 10-3; and Golding of Central Gym edged Marifi Gadit of RHS, 5-4.

Gold medal winners in the grade school category were Tristan Avelino of D’Club, Region 4’s Rannie Mercado and Gene Untalan and Paulina Naguiat of Montea.