MANILA – The Philippines captured three golds and five bronzes in the 10th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships held on Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 in Lima, Peru.
Jeordan Dominguez prevailed over Vietnamese Dinh Khoi Nguyen to claim the gold medal in the men’s freestyle individual Over 17 category. The bronze medals went to Colombia’s Leandro Augusto Rodriguez and Turkey’s Oguzhan Mustafa Ornek.
Dominguez was also named Most Valuable Player in the freestyle category, while Ukraine’s Anna Borysenko won the award in the female division.
Ernesto Guzman gave the Philippines its second gold medal when he beat Iranian Ali Salmani in the recognized poomsae men’s individual Under 40 category. Korean Kim Do-gyeong and Serbian Branislav Kuruca were awarded the bronze medals.
Guzman was a silver medalist in the 2014 edition of the tournament held at the Olympic Gym in Aguascalientes City, Mexico.
The Philippines secured its third gold in the recognized poomsae men’s team Over 30 category. Turkey took the silver while Iran and USA claimed the bronze medals.
The Philippines also managed to pocket five bronze medals coming from June Ninobla in the recognized poomsae men’s individual Under 50 category; Rodolfo Reyes Jr. in the recognized poomsae men’s individual Under 30 category; the recognized poomsae men’s team Under 30 category; freestyle team Over 17 category; and freestyle pairs Over 17 category.
While the Philippines placed sixth overall at the end of the four-day competition at the Villa Deportiva Nacional, it was the best performer among the countries in the Southeast Asian region. Vietnam was seventh with two golds, four silvers and three bronzes, while Thailand placed 12th with one gold and one silver.
The Republic of Korea topped the medal standings with eight golds, one silver and four bronzes in the tournament, which has attracted a record of 760 athletes from 55 countries.
Turkey finished second with five golds, four silvers and seven bronzes; USA was third with four golds, five silvers and 11 bronzes; China was fourth with three golds, three silvers and two bronzes; while Chinese Taipei was fifth with three golds, two silvers and one bronze.
Peru’s First Lady Nancy Lange Kuczynski watched the final day of competition. She awarded the silver medal to Peruvian athlete Marcela Castillo Tokumori in the recognized poomsae women’s individual Under 30 division.
Korean Kwang Ho Park bagged his second straight MVP award in recognized poomsae while Elif Aybuke Yilmaz from Turkey took the award in the female category.