Alcantara falls against Uzbek foe

Cebu, Philippines — The country’s bid for an Olympic slot in taekwondo suffered an early setback as Arven Alcantara fell to Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan in the men’s -68kg division at the start of the Asian Qualification Tournament for Tokyo at the Kempinski Hotel in Amman, Jordan yesterday.

The 2019 Southeast Asian Games silver medalist trailed the taller former Youth Olympics veteran, 0-3, after the first round but came back strong in the second to snatch a 5-4 edge.

But Rashitov started to get aggressive and scored at will against the Surigao del Sur native in dominating the third and final round, 23-9, and quashing the latter’s hope of snaring a Tokyo berth.

The loss left the 2016 Rio Olympian Elaine Alora, Kurt Barbosa and Pauline Lopez with the responsibility of delivering the country a slot or two to the quadrennial event.

Alora will compete in the +73kg class while Barbosa and Lopez vie in the men’s -58kg and women’s -56kg, respectively, today.

Alora is a silver medal winner in the 2019 Manila SEA Games while Barbosa and Lopez struck gold.