■ CEBUANA WILL CHASE A TAEKWONDO GOLD IN SEAG
Cebuana Rinna Babanto to compete in third straight SEA Games Babanto, 19, hopes to win gold medal after taking silver in 2015 Cebuana confident PHL will win gold in women’s team Poomsae event
Rinna Babanto of Cebu, who has won a world championship in taekwondo, is chasing a gold medal that has twice eluded her in the Southeast Asian Games. She will compete in Malaysia on Aug. 26, along with Jocel Lyn Ninobla and Juvenile Crisostomo. Babanto was in the women’s team that placed fourth in the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar, then won an individual silver two years later in Singapore. Will it be third time’s a charm?
After two failed attempts, Rinna Babanto is optimistic that it’ll finally be her year in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Already a champion in the world level, Babanto hasn’t won that elusive gold medal in the biennial meet of Southeast Asian countries.
Babanto returns in this month’s SEA Games for a third attempt at that coveted gold as she competes again in the women’s team Poomsae event in taekwondo along with Jocel Lyn Ninobla and Juvenile Crisostomo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Aug. 26.
“Yes we are aiming for the gold, but I think we will win the gold this time,” Babanto, a third year AB Sports Management student at the De La Salle University, told SunStar Cebu.
Babanto made her debut in the SEA Games in 2013 in Myanmar at just 16 years old. She competed in the women’s team event along with Janice Lagman and Rani Ortega but just finished fourth place and went home without a medal.
Two years later, Babanto returned to the SEA Games in Singapore and joined two events. She won a silver in the women’s individual event and walked away with a bronze in the Women’s Team event along with Ninobla and Crisostomo.
Now 19 years old, the Cebuana jin has gained more experience and has also built good chemistry with her teammates Ninobla and Crisostomo.
“We needed to improve more on our skills and confidence. I learned that in the past years that I have been participating in the SEA Games. It taught me to be strong in and out of the court. It takes time to find a perfect and strong team. It’s important to know your role in the team and be able to influence and inspire people around you. Being among the best players in the country made me the best person I can be,” she said.
Babanto along with the rest if the Philippines National Taekwondo Team leaves for Malaysia on Aug. 23.
Babanto wants nothing more than a gold medal finish, not just this year but in the future SEA Games.
“Our ultimate goal is winning the gold medal and defending it.” /