TAEKWONDO jins from Capiz and Bacolod showed their wares by bagging eight medals – including seven golds – during the World Taekwondo Culture Expo in Muju, South Korea.
Mark Joefel Fabraquel of Capiz Commercial School took home two gold medals in poomsae and kyorugi event. Mary Chelsea Joan Hinola of Capiz National High School also had two golds in poomsae and kyorugi.
Rove Marie Erpelua of Capiz State University Main Campus, meanwhile, failed to sweep her events – she won gold in kyorugi but settled for bronze in poomsae.
Jerik Joseph Paiwas, a Grade 5 pupil of the Education Training Center School I in Bacolod City, took home two gold medals in kyorugi and poomsae.
Taekwondo jins from Iloilo City – siblings Elaine Margaret and Elizabeth Marie Borres, Roivic and Roices Decafe, and Niesha Kariz Pequierda – bagged 10 medals.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod City congratulated Paiwas, a resident of Barangay Villamonte in the city, on his achievement.
“Aside from being an excellent athlete, Paiwas is known to his parents and teachers as a loving, responsible, diligent, and respectful child,” the city council said in a resolution authored by Councilor Caesar Distrito.
Having attained such a “remarkable” feat at a young age, Paiwas “[serves] as an inspiration to other student-athletes in Bacolod City and the rest of Negros Occidental.”
“The City of Bacolod is very proud of his accomplishment considering that this has brought pride and honor to all of us by showing other countries how competitive our country is in the field of taekwondo,” the resolution read.
Kyorugi is a demonstration of sparring while poomsae comprises basic attack and defense motions associated with the martial art.
The World Taekwondo Culture Expo from July 12 to 17 drew around 1,000 players from Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, and the United States. (With Mae Singuay/PN)
