MANILA – A taekwondo jin from Iloilo province scored a historic gold in the 5th Women’s Martial Arts Festival at the Harrison Plaza in Ermita.
It was the first time for an Ilongga like Angela Joy Bermejo, a native of Miagao town, to participate in this competition, according to head coach Denmark Pinggol.
“This is the first time that an Ilongga competed and won a medal in the Women’s Martial Arts Festival, so this is really a huge achievement, especially for the MVP (Mark V. Pinggol) taekwondo gym,” Pinggol told Panay News.
Bermejo started her campaign with victories over Aja Jin Delos Reyes in the elimination round and Mikyla Angela Gudao of the PSU-Dasma Powerkicks in the tightly contested semifinals.
The St. Robert’s International Academy Panda Rockets standout captured the gold medal on Oct. 25 in the lightweight category, cadet advanced division by defeating Nicole Delos Santos of San Jose Academy.
“Actually I am not surprised that she won a gold medal in this tournament because she is one of the most hardworking taekwondo jins in our gym. So I can see her excelling further soon,” Pinggol said.
Bermejo’s medal in the three-day Women’s Martial Arts Festival was one of her four golds so far this year.
She bagged the other three in the Smart MVP Best of the Best, the National Inter-School and the National CPJ tournaments./PN
