By MARK REY MONTEJO
The Philippine taekwondo team fell short in its bid to clinch Olympic berths to Paris after Jessica Canabal and Kurt Barbosa yielded to their respective semifinal rivals in the Asian Taekwondo Qualification Tournament in Tai’an, China on Saturday, March 16.
Canabal was the first to fall on the second day of competition, losing to Lebanon’s Laetitia Aoun, 11-0, 6-5, in the women’s -57kg before Barbosa, who competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, bowed to a taller Kazakh rival in Samirkhon Ababakirov in the men’s -58kg.
A victory for Canabal and Barbosa could have earned them tickets to the Olympics as only the Top 2 players from each division will advance.
The losses came a day after Tachiana Mangin and Arven Alcantara stumbled in their respective divisions.
Like Canabal and Barbosa, Mangin also came close to earning an Olympic seat after yielding to Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Abutaleb in the women’s -49kg semis.
Alcantara, for his part, was shown the door in the men’s -68kg quarterfinals after bowing to Ali Reza Abbasi of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.
Meanwhile, Allain Keanu Ganapin is seeking a ticket to the Paralympics when he competes in the K44 men’s -80kg.
