DARIUS VENERABLE and the mixed freestyle team won gold medals while three clinched silvers and five bagged bronzes in the recent sixth World Taekwondo Asian Poomsae Championships at the Nouhad Naufal Indoor Stadium in Beirut.
Venerable scored 7.74 points in winning the over-17 gold medal, with South Korea’s Sam Yeop Kim (7.64) settling for the silver medal and Iran’s Mohammad Gomorian (7.30) bagging the bronze.
“It’s very fulfilling on our part to win medals because it’s a very different experience now…like you stay and train inside the bubble and take a lot of swab tests,” poomsae head coach Rani Ann Ortega said.
“The players trained in their respective homes, so when we went to Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba for the bubble training, it wasn’t hard anymore for us,” Ortega added.
Janna Olivia, Juvenile Crisostomo, Jeordan Dominguez, Justin Kobe Macario and Marvin Mori topped the mixed freestyle (over-17) event and Pakistan (7.77-3.47). Only two countries participated in the event.
Venerable partnered with Juvenile Crisostomo and clinched a silver medal in the mixed pair over-17 category, while Oliva settled for another silver in the women’s individual freestyle over-17 event. June Ninobla accounted for the third silver medal in men’s individual under-60 class.
Jocel Lyn Ninobla settled for two bronzes in the women’s individual under-30 and women’s team under-30 event with Rinna Babanto and Aidaine Laxa. Babanto grabbed a bronze in the mixed doubles under-30 event with Patrick King Perez.
Joaquin Tuazon, Perez and Rodolfo Reyes pocketed the bronze in the men’s team under-30, with Reyes also clinching a bronze medal in the men’s individual under-30 event.
Venerable and Crisostomo were named Most Valuable Players.
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