THE six-man Smart/MVP Sports Foundation Philippine taekwondo team is back from a tough campaign in the Guadalajara World Championships having gained more experience they can use for future international competitions.
Tokyo Olympian Kurt Barbosa, Southeast Asian Games multi-medalist Dave Cea and newbie Joseph Chua made it to the quarterfinals, which team manager and former World Championship campaigner Raul “Rocky” Samson considers a big achievement against the world’s best.
“Despite the disadvantage in heigh, experience and exposure from top-tier competitions, our players showed what they have against seasoned opponents in terms of skills, talents and understanding under pressure,” said Samson.
“In the end experience prevailed, but this exposure, malaking bagay sa kanilang mental toughness and readiness for future international competitions, including the SEA Games, Asian Games, Asian Indoor Championships and the World Championship happening next year,” Samson said.
Samson said Chua, 24, showed best how gutsy Pinoy fighters are as the calmly National University standout, a rookie in an international competition, made a winning run against highly favored opponents.
His first win against Finland’s Niko Saarinem via a 2-1 decision was surprising but his victories against American Mik Roman (2-0) and Italian D. Bareta (2-1) were totally mind-blowing, according to Samson. He missed the podium with a 0-2 loss to Cala Jorquera of Spain (0-2).
“Without a single international exposure pero nakita natin ‘yung potential ni Joseph. Konting hasa pa mabibigyan tayo ng magandang laban niyan in the future,” said Samson.
Barbosa, a two-time SEA Games champ coming from an almost two-month training in Korea, pulled off an overwhelming win against Andres Moreno of Columbia (2-0) and bull-strong Khudaybeerdiev of Uzbekistan (2-1). His first match against Sanoh Lomcom of Gunie was an easy default.
“‘Yung laban niya kay Salim Omar Gergen ng Hungary sa quarterfinals, ‘yun ‘yung bara sa weight class niya. Kung nalagpasan niya, malaki ang chance niya na makuha ang gold medal,” said Samson.
