By REY C. LACHICA
HANGZHOU, China –– Taekwondo jin Patrick King Perez distinguished himself as the first medal winner for Team Philippines by taking the bronze on Sunday, Sept. 24, in the men’s individual poomsae in the 19th Asian Games here.
Showing great poise and grace, Perez outclassed his first two rivals in the recognized event before falling to Asia’s No. 2 in Taiwanese Ma Yun Zhong in the freestyle event at the Lin’an Sports Culture and Exhibition Centre.
The Taiwanese tallied 7.450 against Perez’s 6.910
Despite the defeat, Perez, 23, was happy with his performance, saying: “I did my very best but I lost to a better player today.”
Perez, a product of La Salle, was superb right in his first freestyle match, posting 7.700 points to dispatch Souksavanh Chanthilath of Lao People’s Democratic Republic who tallied 7.440 points. Against Nepal’s Limbu Prem Bahadur, Perez put on another spectacular show for 7.560 points and won pulling away after his rival managed only 7.160.
The first casualty in the 12-man taekwondo team was Jocel Lyn Ninobla after facing one of Korean aces in Cha Yeaeun in the Round of 16.
Ninobla performed well, logging 7.560 points but the Korean did more jaw-dropping moves and posted 7.680 to prevail.
On Monday, Sept. 25, SEAG champion Kurt Bryan Barbosa launches his gold medal bid against Uzbek Omonjon Otajonov in the men’s -58kg, hoping he can produce a fitting sequel to Perez’s impressive showing.
