GUADALAJARA, Mexico. – Rookie internationalist Alfritz Arevalo suffered a 0-2 beating in the Round-of-64 of the 2022 World Taekwondo Championship on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) at the Centro Acuatico CODE Metropolitano here.
Although a first timer on the world stage, Arevalo fought like a man on a mission, showing strength and courage for four grueling minutes, but experience prevailed in the end as his veteran rival scored some body shots.
“Before the match, may kaba talaga na ma-overwhelmed ka sa set-up ng stage feeling mo ikaw lang ang pinapanood. But as the fight started okay na ang pakiramdam ko. Maraming chances na maka-iskor pero di ko na-execute ng tama. I think experience really play a lot in this kind of competition,” said the 24-year-old Marketing graduate out of San Beda College.
“Ganito pala ang stage ng World Championship. Now I know, and I think I learned a lot from this experience. I will continue my training program and prepare myself for the coming team selection for next year’s competitions,” added Arevalo.
The loss was the second for the six-man delegation following a similar 0-2 beating suffered by Southeast Asian Games multi-medalist Laila Delo to Germany’s Vanessa Koerndl in the second day of action in the pandemic-delayed tournament last Tuesday.
Next up for the Filipinos is Southeast Asian Games veteran Dave Cea who battles Japanese Yasahuro Hamada in the men’s -74kg division on Thursday (Friday in Manila).
