Former La Salle standout Patrick Perez is one of the Philippines' bets in poomsae in the Asian Games. UAAP Media/File.
Taekwondo could be the first team to deliver a medal for Team Philippines in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Taekwondo official Rocky Samson has pronounced poomsae bets Patrick Perez and Jocel Lyn Ninobla as ready for their respective events on Sunday. Perez, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, is seeded fourth in his division while Ninobla is slightly favored to advance to the next round.
The jins are hoping to conjure the magic of 2006 that saw the Philippine bets win 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.
"It's hard, but we will try our best. That's our challenge," said Samson.
The Doha edition was the country’s most productive stint so far since the inception of the popular Korean sport in the quadrennial event in the 1986 Seoul edition.
Tokyo Olympian Kurt Barbosa will banner free sparring team along with multi-titled Samuel Morrison and Kirstie Ellaine Alora. Other members of the team are David Cea, Arven Alcantara, Veronica Garces and Jubilee Briones.
In 2018 in Jakarta, the taekwondo jins finished 10th overall after winning three medals, including two in team events of poomsae.
The lone individual medal was accounted for by Pauline Lopez, but she won't be returning for this year's edition.
-- Wong targets another podium finish in wushu --
Agatha Wong during the taijiquan/taijijian event of the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 12, 2023. POC/PSC Media
After bringing home a bronze medal from the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Agatha Wong is hoping to reach the podium once more in Hangzhou.
Wong will compete in the wushu competitions of the 19th Asian Games at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre on Sunday, in both the women’s taijiquan and taijijian (sword play) all-around.
Before her trip to China, the five-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist divided her time between training and medical school.
"Training while studying is tough. You have to balance everything," said Wong, a freshman at the UERM Memorial Medical Center in Manila.
She won a pair of taijiquan gold medals in the SEA Games and two more in the taijijian event before wushu federation officials decided to merge both events beginning at the Cambodia SEA Games early this year.
She aced the combined events with a fifth SEAG gold in Phnom Penh last May, making Wong a worthy medal prospect in Sunday's finale.
"I’ve trained hard. As they say, if there’s a will, there's a way," said Wong, also a silver medalist in taijiquan during the 2015 World Wushu Championships in Jakarta.
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