GUADALAJARA. – Laila Delo failed in her bid to advance, absorbing a 0-2 loss to German Vanessa Koerndl last Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) in the World Taekwondo Championship at the Centro Acuatico CODE Metropolitano.
In the lone match for the six-man Philippine delegation on the second day of action, the University of Santos Tomas alumnus under coach Paul Romero tried to fight back with some semblance of toughness but the German was simply in her elements.
“I was trained hard for this kind of situation under a hostile environment but still mistakes happen. Gustong kong bawian pero malakas ang mga paa, narindi katawan ko,” said Delo, the country’s top contender in the regional meet with podium finishes in the past two editions of the Southeast Asan Games.
“Balik po sa training, back to the drawing board. Kailangan maging handa sa SEA Games at pipilitin kong makabawi,” she added.
After an Asian show in Day 1 last Monday where China and Korea grabbed gold medals, homegrown girl Leslie Soltero treated the crowd with a masterful win over Aleksandra Perisic of Serbia in the women’s -67kg to the delight of the crowd, some of them weeping with joy.
