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With contact sports still prohibited due to the coronavirus pandemic, taekwondo tournaments have since moved online.
SEA Games medalists Pauline Lopez and Jocel Ninobla are among the national team members who joined the online speed kicking championships and poomsae tournaments hosted by the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA).
Despite winning the World Taekwondo’s first-ever online poomsae tournament in May, three-time UAAP champion Jocel Ninobla admitted how she struggled adjusting to virtual competitions.
“Medyo nakakapanibago siya at first kasi first time ko rin magjoin. Yung process po nun is nakakafrustrate. If ‘di mo magustuhan yung takes mo, paulit-ulit ka lang kasi di ka masasatisfy sa video na makikita mo. You’ll see your mistakes and then you’ll try again. Ang hirap magstop minsan,” she shared on Tiebreaker Times’ So She Did Vodcast.
(It was new to me at first since it’s my first time to join. The process is frustrating. If you don’t like your takes, you will repeat again because you won’t be satisfied with what you’ll see in video. You’ll see your mistakes and then you’ll try again. It’s hard to stop sometimes,)
The tournament, which does not involve sparring, lets players perform various levels of exercises that will be graded by judges remotely.
As a kyorugi player, two-time SEA Games gold medalist Pauline Lopez had to adapt with the changes as well since sparring is still under quarantine restrictions.
“There’s that competitive drive and spirit that this competition brings… I still felt that pressure because if you’re in a national team, you are expected to win. There’s that expectation that you have to perform so we have to be in tip-top shape,” she said.
“We all had to adjust. Just like in any sport, those who don’t adjust don’t win.”
Participants in the online tournament have to send their videos ahead of time. Results of the competitions are aired live via an online video sharing platform in the PTA’s Facebook page.
“It was like we’re simulating a real competition. There was court 1 court 2 court 3 then you have good judges and you can see your score… You never know who’s gonna win, [and] you get to meet new players from different provinces that you never knew was that good.” Lopez shared.
2018 Asian Games bronze medalist Lopez is also vying for a berth in the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. – Jillian Velasco/Rappler.com
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