PAULINE Lopez led the country’s assault in taekwondo after the team won three gold medals on Sunday in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Lopez captured the first gold for the Philippines in kyorugi (combat) when she ruled the women’s -57kg division by beating Chhoeung Aliza of Cambodia, 12-4.
Dave Cea and Samuel Morrison followed suit with Cea beat Nutthawee Klompong of Thailand, 10-5, in his men’s -74kg bout, and Morrison winning in dominant fashion, beating Joshua Abdullah of Malaysia, 30-8, in the men’s -80kg class.
The country also won silver medals from Arven Alcantara, Laila Delo, Kirstie Elaine Alora, and Kristopher Uy as the taekwondo team, poomsae included, already surpassed the two gold medal haul from the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur.
Behind a packed house at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, the 23-year-old Lopez got the ball rolling for the taekwondo squad, winning her second gold medal in the SEA Games in dominant fashion after starting out with a 4-0 lead.

Lopez beat Vipawan Siripornpermsak of Thailand, 18-1, to gain entry into the gold medal bout.
The 21-year-old Cea also put on an impressive showing in the final bout in his first SEA Games of his young career.
Cea beat Prayogo Dinggo of Indonesia, 24-9, and Ly Hong Phuc of Vietnam, 20-6, to advance into the gold medal bout.
Morrison was the aggressor in his fight against Abdullah as several kicks to the head worth three points allowed the 29-year-old to pull off the victory.
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