KURT Barbosa is only a day away from a faceoff with a world champion.
The Filipino taekwondo jin will debut in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics on Saturday, at the Makuhari Masse Hall A. Standing on the opposite side of the mat is World no. 1 Jang Jun of Korea.
Barbosa is ranked 16th in the men's 58 kg category. He has a Southeast Asian Games gold medal, and is the lone Filipino bet in the sport.
Meanwhile, Jang holds two World Taekwondo Grand Prix titles, and is a gold medalist in the Asian Games. He also captured the top honors in the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships in Manchester, Great Britain.
That may sound staggering, but for the 22-year-old, that's just how the game works.
"No pressure," the UAAP Rookie MVP answered SPIN Life when asked about how he feels coming into the match.
Kurt Barbosa first PH Olympic taekwondo jin in 13 years
Upsets, of course, aren't unusual in the fast-paced contact sport. In Rio 2016, for example, top seed Farzan Ashourzadeh of Iran lost to Omar Hajjami of Morocco in Rio De Janeiro, before the latter was eliminated in the second round.
Barbosa is focused on showing off the fruit of his hard work and talent, while bannering the Philippine flag.
"I'm just going to go up there and enjoy the game," he added.
The National University jin is the first Pinoy taekwondo athlete to qualify for the prestigious meet since Tshomlee Go competed in Beijing 2008.
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