Fancied jins open Filipinos gold bid

VIENTIANE, Laos – The world-class poomsae stars descend today on taekwondo stage from the Mt. Olympus of the sport – the world championships – vowing to win the country’s first gold as the Philippine contingent launches its campaign in the 11-nation, 11-day competition hours before the opening ceremonies of the biennial meet.

 World poomsae champions Rani Ann Ortega, Francesca Camille Alarilla and Maria Carla Janice Lagman, who won the gold in the just-concluded Women’s World poomsae championships in Cairo, Egypt, try to win the gold over the great pretenders in both the individual and team events as well as the mixed pairs in partnership with Anthony Ray Matias and Subido brothers Jean Pierre Subido. 

The male bets are also competing in the individual and team categories of the event. The preliminaries will be held at 10 a.m. with the semifinals and finals starting at 2 p.m.

The cycling team is expected to start its bid today in the men’s downhill event at the Dane Soung, Saythany District in the outskirts of the city but its participation remained uncertain on the eve of competitions without the accreditation of the international cycling federation.

Even before the Games went into high gear, the Team Philippines took two bronze medals to go with the silver medal of the water polo team Monday when the men’s and women’s hoops teams finished third in sepak takraw.

The squad of Danilo Alipan, Joel Carbonilla, Harry Castanares, Jerome Vendiola, Metodio Suico Jr. and Hector Memarion took the bronze with a third place finish in the men’s hoop behind Thailand (gold) and Myanmar (silver). Indonesia shared the bronze as a fourth placer.

The women’s team of Desiree Autor, Irene Apdon, Gelyn Evora, Sarah Jane Catain and Rhea Padrigo fell short but also took the bronze in the women’s hoop, losing to Myanmar (gold) and Vietnam (silver) at the Lao ITECC Hall 1.

Table tennis, meanwhile, holds its preliminaries for the team competitions at the National University Convention Hall, but they will be playing with their backs to the wall.

The table tennis bets are Richard Gonzales, Rodel Ireneo Valle, Tiny Ledesma, Henberd Ortalla, Ian Lariba and Chrisma Capistrano.