Poomsae teams bag 2 bronzes
JAKARTA – The Philippine taekwondo jins brandished the very form that have made them touted bets in poomsae event in regional and world levels, striking a pair of bronze medals as action in the 18th Asian Games kicked into high gear in various venues here and in the city of Palembang in South Sumatra province yesterday.
Rodolfo Reyes Jr., Jeordan Dominguez and Dustin Jacob Mella formed the men’s team while Jana Dominique Oliva, Rina Babanto, and Juvenile Faye Crisostomo composed the distaff side that earned the Philippines a sixth spot on the medal board the day after the colossal opening ceremony of the quadrennial games at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex Saturday night.
Over in Palembang, the Philippines saw worthy showings from trap shooter Hagen Alexander Topacio and netters Jeson Patrombon and Francis Alcantara.
But a number of Filipino bets got off to a losing start, including the volleybelles who dropped their first match to old tormentor Team Thailand, 25-22, 25-12, 25-15.
Wrestler Alvin Lobrequito, a bronze medal winner in the Asian Indoor-Martial Arts Games in Turkmenistan last year, didn’t make headway here, losing his first match against Uzbek Makhmudjan Shavkatov, 2-11, in men’s freestyle 57kg.
Meanwhile, cyclist Marella Vania Salamat was out without seeing action as she was disallowed by the UE College of Dentistry a leave of absence from her studies.
China and Chinese Taipei had split the first two gold medals in the games before the Philippines joined the host country, Korea, Iran, Vietnam, India, Malaysia and Thailand in getting to the medal tally.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo was in the gallery as the Philippines made a pair of podium finishes in poomsae at the Jakarta Convention Center.
The men’s team bested Saudi Arabia 8.18-7.64 in the Round of 16 before topping Iran 8.33-8.10 in the quarterfinals for an outright bronze medal feat.
The women’s team was not to be outdone, topping Hong Kong 8.00-7.49 in the Round of 16, then narrowly beating the host team, 8.07-8.04 to also book a semis slot.
But both settled for the bronze as Reyes, Dominguez and Mella were outperformed by their Chinese rivals while Oliva, Babanto and Crisostomo were humbled by their Korean foes, 8.020-7.110, in the semifinals.
Reyes missed what could have been another bronze in the men’s individual poomsae as he was topped by Thailand’s Pongporn Suvittayarak, 8.08-8.32, in the quarterfinals. He showed up Kazakh Ruslan Manaspayev 8.08-7.08, in the Round of 16.
Out right in the first round in women’s individual event was Jocel Lyn Ninobla who lost her Round of 16 match to Vietnam’s Tuyet Van Chau, 7.89-8.11.
The Aboitiz Group and Dennis Uy-led Chelsea Logistics Corp. will have to submit anew their respective offers to build and operate provincial airports in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Transportation Undersecretary for planning Ruben Reinoso Jr. told The STAR that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has asked Aboitiz and Chelsea “to revise their proposal and resubmit.”
“It’s not rejected. We’re negotiating for better pro- posals before we recommend grant of original proponent status (OPS) and they agreed to improve their offers,” Reinoso said.
Reinoso said the DOTr is hoping to receive the proposal from the two companies within the month.
“They need time to run financial viability,” he said.
Reinoso told The STAR earlier this month that evaluation of the unsolicited proposals for the New Bohol International Airport in Panglao and the Davao International Airport were ongoing, and clarification from proponents on their financial offers are being sought.
Both Aboitiz and Chelsea each submitted earlier bundled unsolicited proposals for a number of the country’s regional airports, but was rejected by the DOTr due to a change in policy direction.
The DOTr has instead asked the groups to unbundle their proposals as many of the airports can stand on their own, resulting to Aboitiz choosing the New Bohol International Airport in Panglao and Chelsea picking the Davao International Airport.
Other regional airports such as the Bacolod-Silay International Airport, the Iloilo International Airpot, and Laguindingan Airport have yet to receive unsolicited proposals from the private sector.
Reinoso earlier said these airports may instead be bidded out by the government.