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Friday, March 29, 2024

Lopez subdues Thai, makes Asian taekwondo semifinal

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PAULINE Louise Lopez made her big move in the third and final round to subdue Thailand;s Sae-Lao Thanapa, 6-3, in the women’s quarterfinals of the 22nd Asian Taekwondo Championships at the Mariott Hotel Grand ballroom in Pasay City yesterday.

Down 0-1 after two rounds, Lopez, a 2015 Singapore Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, opened the last round with a cut roundhouse kick to the stunned Thai’s face which is good for three points, to turn the tide, 4-1, assuring herself and the country of another bronze medal at the close of the competition.

The Nanjing Asian Youth Games veteran scored two more points with kicks to the body of the Thai, whose desperate efforts with under a minute went for naught, as the hometown gallery erupted in cheers for the pretty and gutsy Fil-Am.

South Korea’s Kim Seok-Bae (left) scores off a kick to the body against Abolfazl Yaghoubijouybari of Iran in one of the top actions in the senior category of the Asian Taekwondo Championships 2016 held at the  Marriott  Hotel in Pasay City.  Kim won this match to take the gold medal. 

Lopez will be up against Iran’s Mahsa Jedda, who upset Japanese No. 1 seed Mayu Hamada, 7-6, of in the the semifinals set later in the afternoon. 

The Philippines had an earlier silver from Kristopher Robert Uy and courtesy of Olympic qualifier Kirstie Elaine Alora.

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But the other quarterfinalist, rookie Eddtone Lumasac, couldn’t hold on to his lead and eventually fell to Kazakhstan’s Yerzyhan Abylkas, who used a last-gasp turning side kick to the head in scoring a come-from-behind 9-8 victory in the men’s 74-kg. Division.

Ahead 8-6 with barely 20 seconds to go, Lumasac relaxed, allowing the Kazakh to score three points with his final kick and advance to semis of the tournament sponsored by Smart, PLDT, Meralco, MVP Sports Foundation, Resorts World Manila and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Earlier, Lopez reasserted her mastery over Malaysia Nurul Farah Alisa Roslan, 4-1, in the round-of-16 match while Lumasac crushed Syria’s Mohammad Ghanem, 16-3, in the same round.

Bowing out early were Keith Sembrano and Kaye Shannele Romuar in the men’s 68-kg. and women’s 62-kg. opening bouts, respectively.

Sembrano lost lopsidedly, 4-22, Iran’s Alireza Alyari, after which the host camp noted that the Iranian’s body body was wet that could have short-circuited or grounded the sensitive electronic system so that the Filipino’s blows failed to register. 

“This is why we had a coaches meeting when this was observed because this is one way some players are able to cheat (the scoring system),” explained head coach Kitoy Cruz, who attended the meeting.

Romuar dropped a close 2-3 decision to Vietnam’s Thi Hang Pam in her first match. 

 

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