PH jin Alora books ticket to Rio, two others fall

MANILA, Philippines – From the Southeast Asian Games to the Asian Games, Kirstie Elaine Alora will now continue her taekwondo journey to the biggest sports showcase of all: the Olympic Games.

Inspired by a hometown crowd, the veteran Filipina jin qualified for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August by placing second in the women’s +67-kilogram division of the Asian Taekwondo Olympic qualifying competition on Friday, April 16, at the Manila Mariott Hotel Grand ballroom in Pasay City.

It was an anti-climactic finish for Alora, who lost, 0-5, in the finals to her 2014 Incheon Asian Games tormentor, Cambodia’s Seavmey Sorm, who relied on her height and length in capturing the gold medal and a first Olympic stint.

In a field of 5 entries in her division, the hometown bet and 3-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist had assured herself and the country of an Olympic ticket with a 10-2 whipping of Iranian top seed Akram Khodabandeh in the semifinals.

While the meet drew over 200 Olympic aspirants from 35 Asian countries, the gold and silver medalists in the 4 weight divisions here qualify for the quadrennial meet.  

Allora became the country’s fifth and latest Olympic qualifier after hurdler Eric Shauwn Cray, boxers Charly Suarez and Rogen Ladon, and weightlifter Hidylin Diaz.

Also hoping to qualify is Alora’s teammate Pauline Louise Lopez, who was set to battle Malaysia’s Nurul Farah Alisa at the opening the women’s -57-kilogram division competitions today.

“We really studied the Iranian and used our speed to be able to beat her,” said Elora of the strategy in overwhelming Khobdabandeh, who won a silver in the Incheon Asiad in a heavier division. “We were able to earn a ticket to Rio and that is good for the Philippines.”

Although she started slow, Elora, who opened her campaign by routing Nepal’s Nisha Rewal, 9-0, was like an energizer bunny in the last two rounds in building an imposing lead, delivering a roundhouse kick to the Iranian’s head in the third – worth 3 points – for the coup de grace.   

She will be tracing the footsteps of Marie Antoinette Rivero, who was the last Filipina jin to see action in the Olympics when she represented the country in the 2008 Beijing Olympiad.

Alora’s milestone was a huge boost for the host country after Samuel Morrison and Kristopher Robert Uy absorbed gut-wrenching losses in the men’s division.

Competing in the men’s -80-kg. category, Morrison saw his Olympic quest go up in smoke to Taiwanese Wei Ting-Liu, who rallied from down 3-6 in the last minute of the third and final round of the quarterfinals to eventually win, 9-7, with two successive roundhouse kicks.

Morrison earlier hurdled his round-of-16 match against Pakistan’s Muhammad Faheem, who was disqualified for faking an injury although he was ahead, 2-0, early in the first round.   

Uy suffered a similar fate in the men’s +80-kilogram round-of-16 match, losing to Palestine’s Bahri Tanrikulu, 6-7, in the sudden-death round after both fighters ended the regulation tied at 6-all. – Rappler.com