PROVING her triumph last year was no fluke, Isabella del Rosario displayed courage, tenacity and talent to retain the women’s featherweight crown in the WNCAA taekwondo tournament over the weekend at the San Beda Alabang Gymnasium in Muntinlupa.
With her father, Seoul Olympic Games veteran and former Asian champion Monsour del Rosario, and mother Joy keenly watching from the sidelines, the spunky jin rallied strongly in her semifinal and final matches to become the back-to-back champion in her weight division.
Down 7-11 in the first round in the gold-medal match against St. Paul Pasig’s Leia Amara Unson, Del Rosario,16, who fights with a body brace for her slight scoliosis, refused to give up, bouncing back to surge to a 23-11 lead after two rounds.
The Grade 11 La Salle Zobel honor student continued her relentless attack in the third and final round, racking up 12 points in a row with her precise and lethal kicks, prompting the referee to stop the contest and declare her the winner.
“I am super proud of Bella for being a back-to-back champion. She is really my daughter, a fighter in the ring and life. She loses in the early rounds but never gives up and comes back. Fighter talaga,” said the elder Del Rosario with pride.
An accomplished taekwondo coach, he could be seen giving pointers while helping her daughter-athlete limber up and stretch her muscles before the actual competition began.
“Considering that she also has a 97 percent grade average in her subjects underscores the discipline and dedication that she has in juggling both taekwondo and her studies,” the father, who is also the president of the Asean Taekwondo Federation, said.
The elder Del Rosario also credited the athlete’s coach, Edward Cruz, the brother of Sydney Olympian and six-time Southeast Asian Games men’s finweight champion Roberto “Kitoy” Cruz, for training her daughter well in preparation for the meet.
Although her daughter was flourishing in the same discipline that made him locally famous, paving the way for a successful career as an action star, Del Rosario said he preferred that she focus on her studies.
“Me and wife Joy consider Bella’s taekwondo as secondary; we allow her to enjoy it while she can. What’s important for us is her studies and, hopefully, the bright future that awaits her once she finishes school,” he said.