Despite the presence of Asian Games champion in her division, Rio Olympian Kirstie Elaine Alora vowed to do everything to win her fourth gold medal in the taekwondo competitions in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia this month.
Standing her way in the 70 kg. division is Cambodian Sorn Seavmey.
During a roundtable meeting yesterday with other fellow College of St. Benilde students, Alora, 27, feels she will run into the Cambodian fighter.
The 6-foot-1 Seavmey is not only an Asian Games winner, she also has beaten Alora twice.
But the 5-foot-8 Alora, who graduated in 2012 with a degree in Export Management, is undaunted, saying she has what it takes to upset the Cambodian.
Like Alora, other CSB athletes with SEAG medal aspirations include swimmer Maria Lipat, volleyball team captain John Vic de Guzman, trackster Anfernee Lopena, footballer Valentino Calvo and the table-tennis duo of Ryan Jacolo and Sendrina Balatbat.
Only Balatbat and Calvo were not around during the hour-long QA arranged by former tourism guy Edu Jarque but also in attendance was 1992 Barcelona Olympics veteran Stephen Fernandez, who now serves as CSB’s sports director.
Fernandez said the school is set to stage a simple sendoff for their KL-bound students and the entire community is solidly behind their quest to bring honor and prestige not only to the school but for the country.
While most of them have travelled before and competed in the SEAG, a first-timer is Lipat, who sees action in the 4×100 relay, 50 and 100 meter butterfly.
“It’s my first time and I am thrilled to be part of the team,” said the former Palarong Pambansa standout from Lipa City, Batangas.
The speedster Lopena, originally from Bobol, campaigns in the century dash and 4×100 and is determined to come up with a head-turning performance.
