Lopez ends Pinoy slump, takes gold over Korean
Pauline Louise Lopez, who missed a berth to the Rio Olympics just a few days back, bounced back with a magical win over a great Korean champion last night and won the gold in the Asian Taekwondo Championships at the Marriott Grand Ballroom.
Lopez stunned Ah-reum Lee, the reigning Asian Championships and Asian Games champion, in an action-packed contest, 8-6, before a boisterous crowd. The victory ended a long, dry spell for the Philippines in the Asian Championships, dating back from 1999 when Roberto “Kitoy” Cruz won the gold in the finweight class.
There’ve been a few more Pinoy champions in the Asian Championships but Lopez’ win last night was only the second that came against a Korean opponent in the finals, next only to Ali Atienza’s victory 22 years ago.
Lopez missed the bus to Rio last Sunday but vowed to continue fighting hard, saying in between sobs that the defeat will not stop her from pursuing her dreams of making it to the Olympics someday. “The feeling is so surreal,” she said last night. “I’m crying again but now they’re tears of joy. I put in the hard work. My coaches believed in me, my family, the Philippines. This is just another road to Tokyo (2020 Olympics),” Lopez added.
The 2013 Asian Youth Games gold medalist and reigning SEA Games champion was the clear underdog against Lee, who won the gold in the same event in 2014, the year she also ruled the Asian Games.
Last year, Lee beat everybody who stood in front of her, winning gold medals in the Kazakhstan Open, Indonesia Open, Australia Open and Korean Open.
But Lee could not carry his credentials on the mat against Lopez, who trailed 1-0 then equalized at 2-2 and 3-3 before landing the crucial blow, an axe kick that grazed Lee’s face. It was a three-pointer that gave the Filipina the cushion that she needed.
“Before fighting my coach kept telling me, even my dad, ‘Nameless, faceless,’” said Lopez, who, ironically, had a Korean coach by his side for the finals match.
“Whoever I was facing I gave my all,” said Lopez, adding that her father, former Philippine taekwondo jin Efren Lopez Jr. stayed up all night in their Los Angeles home to keep track of the final match.
“He didn’t sleep at all. My grandfather and grandmother (were here) and I was kind of worried they might have a heart attack,” said Lopez.
“I really worked hard. That’s all it took to win this. I have no idea (how she landed the right axe kick). I was able to get my flow. But I was aggressive. I fought like I was behind,” she said.
The crowd came to see Lopez vie in the women’s -57 division, and the 2013 Asian Youth Games gold medalist came to provide the excitement.
Lopez, who vowed to fight harder after missing a berth to the Rio Olympics in last Sunday’s qualifier, nailed three victories in a span of seven hours to reach the finals.
The 19-year-old jin dealt Malaysia’s Nurul Farah Alisa Roslan a 4-1 defeat in the round-of-16 before pulling off a 6-3 win over Thailand’s Sae Lao Thanapa.
In the semis, Lopez squared off against the former Asian Youth champion from Iran, Mahsa Jeddi, and scored one of the most dramatic wins of the tournament.
Lopez was ahead early, 3-0, on two clear punches and a penalty, but flirted with disaster when she allowed the Iranian to even the score and take a 5-4 lead with only 15 seconds to go.
The crowd chanted “Pilipinas! Pilipinas!” as the seconds passed, and Lopez, not giving up, responded with a jumpingturning-45 that landed on Jeddi’s body with only three seconds in the clock.
It was worth three points, and Lopez was already raising her hands in victory even before the score (7-4) was reflected on the giant monitor.
“One or two seconds late and that kick wouldn’t have registered,” said Jobet Morales, a member of the Philippine coaching staff.