The Philippine Taekwondo Association stages its biggest annual event – the 41st SMART/MVP SPORTS FOUNDATION National Taekwondo Championships – on July 22-23 at the Rizal Memorial coliseum.
Around 1,500 athletes or the equivalent of 300 teams from 12 different regions, including ARMM, CAR, CARAGA and NCR and all branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, will vie for honors in the prestigious tournament, according to Organizing Committee Chairman Sung Chon Hong.
The competition will have two categories – advance and novice – in eight divisions, namely, Senior, Junior, Cadet (males and females) and Gradeschool (boys and girls).
Each team, composed of 5 athletes and two alternates, will come from all over the country. Among these are Central Gymnasium, DLSU, CSB, Ateneo, UST, UP, UE, FEU, LSGH, San Beda College, UP Diliman, DPS, DLSZ, Las Pinas, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Army and PNP.
Members of the Philippine team will also see action for their respective home squads in the tourney sponsored by PLDT, Meralco, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and MILO.
The tournament will utilize the taekwondo officiating system – PSS (Protective Scoring System), ESS (Electronic Scoring System) & Daedo PSS, IVR (Instant Video Replay). The different systems are expected to eliminate human error and upgrade all PTA championships.
Elimination matches start at 9 a.m. on July 22, but the opening ceremony highlighted by the performance of the Philippine Demonstration Team will be staged at 1 p.m. on July 23.
Martial arts enthusiasts specially children who are interested to learn the sport are invited to watch the competition.
