MANAMA, Bahrain – Taekwondo fell short of giving Team Philippines a second gold in the 3rd Asian Youth Games, as Kristen Ambriel Aguila lost in the finals of the girls’ individual recognized poomsae on Thursday at the Exhibition World Bahrain Hall 2 here.
The 15-year-old Filipina was beaten by Iranian counterpart Zeinab Shahriari, 8.86-8.60, to settle for the silver - the second medal for the country, as action in the 45-nation meet officially went full-blast.
The silver medal came three days after the Philippines broke into the medal board behind the gold won by Kram Airam Carpio in the 51-55 kg event of pencak silat.
Nonetheless, Aguila’s medal glittered like gold, especially after she rallied back and stunned Chinese bet Yuqi Li in the semifinals, 8.52-8.51, to set the tone for the country’s campaign a day after the Games were officially declared open.
Coached by former world champion Rani Ann Lagman Ortega and fellow world medal winner Jeordan Dominguez, poomsae also delivered a bronze courtesy of Aeden Roffer Cereno in the boys’ individual freestyle.
Cereno tallied 7.040 for third place behind gold winner Punnathom Sirisom of Thailand (7.620) and silver medalist Zhihao Wang of China (7.380).
Philippines on teqball podium
In other fronts, the duo of Crystal Cariño and Nicole Tabucol also salvaged a bronze in a surprise podium finish for teqball.
The Pangasinense tandem contributed to the Philippines’ medal haul, as they clinched bronze in the girls’ doubles division following a thrilling 10-12, 12-10, 14-12 win over home bets Rawan Abdulaziz and Fatima Albanna.
“Ang expectations ko po, wala po kaming makukuha kasi alam ko po malalakas ‘yung mga kalaban. Pero mayroon po pala kaming makukuha,” said Tabucol.
Cariño, 15, and Tabucol, 17, originally represented the country in sepak takraw.
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