Hangzhou, China—Taekwondo jin Patrick King Perez delivered the first medal for the Philippines on Sunday, a bronze in the 19th Asian Games’ individual poomsae competition.
Perez lost his semifinal clash with Chinese Taipei’s Ma Yun Zhong after scoring 6.910 points in taekwondo discipline that combined both the freestyle and recognized events.
A win would have catapulted Perez to the gold-medal round, but the loss still proved worthy of the bronze.
“I couldn’t believe I won a bronze. I’m really happy, all the hard work paid off,’’ said the 23-year-old Perez, the reigning Southeast Asian Games champion.
Ma got the attention of the judges and scored 7.450 to advance to the gold-medal duel against South Korea’s Kang Wanjin at the Lin’an Sports and Culture Exhibition Centre here.
Perez registered 7.640 points in the recognized and 6.180 in the freestyle, while Ma had a combined output of 8.000 and 6.900 in his routines.
The De La Salle University star in the UAAP set up the semis showdown with Ma after defeating Prem Bahadur Limbu of Nepal in the quarterfinals.
in action
“It’s a good start and a good sign,” said POC president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino on Perez’s bronze medal in taekwondo’s men’s individual poomsae.
Perez earlier beat Souksavanh Chanthilath of Laos in the Round of 16 before meeting Limbu.
Meanwhile, three-time SEA Games gold winner Jocel Lyn Ninobla failed to advance and bombed out of contention following a stinging defeat at the hands of South Korea’s Kang Wanjin in the women’s individual poomsae round of 16.
On Monday, SEAG champion and Tokyo Olympian Kurt Bryan Barbosa launches his gold-medal bid against Uzbek Omonjon Otajonov in the men’s -58kg.