Lopez falls short in bid for Rio Olympics

MANILA, Philippines – Competing in front of a hometown crowd was no edge at all for Filipino-American taekwondo jin Pauline Louise Lopez on Sunday, April 17.

Despite being egged on by the raucous Pinoy gallery, Lopez’s hopes of competing in the Rio Olympics were foiled by sly Thai Phannappa Harnsujin, who fashioned a controversial 5-2 decision in the women’s -57-kilogram semifinals of the Asian Taekwondo Olympic Qualifying tournament at the Mariott Hotel Grand ballroom in Pasay City.    

Phanappa seized the initiative with an axe kick to the head of Lopez, giving her an early 3-0 lead she never relinquished to seal her ticket to Rio at the close of the two-day continental Olympic qualifying competition.

Only the champion and the runnerup in each of the 4 weight divisions contested here advance to the quadrennial sports showcase in August.

Kirstie Alaine Allora accomplished just that last Saturday after placing second in the women’s +87-kg category.

A protest by national coach Japoy Lizardo to question the score fell on deaf ears, a sentiment shared by Lopez, who was still red-eyed from tears during the interview after the match.   

”I also felt that it was not a valid but the referee didn’t see it my way,” she said. “But it didn’t discourage me because I felt I could come back, which was what I was doing the rest of the way.” 

Ex-national coach Jess Morales explained why the decision was questionable: “We were right to question the call because the hit on top of Pauline’s head did not register in the electronic headgear.

“It would have counted for 3 points if the hit was in the face but it did not.”

 Rather than being discouraged, Lopez went into attack mode in the last two rounds, managing to narrow the deficit to 2-4 with under a minute left against the elusive Harnsujin. 

 “This (setback) has ignited a new fire in me in pursuing my dream of competing in the Olympics,” added the former 2013 Nanjing Asian Youth Games gold medalist later with a determined look on her face. 

Lopez earlier advanced to the semifinals by beating Malaysia’s Nurul Farah Alisa Roslan, 4-2, in the quarterfinals.

Lopez likewise fell behind Roslan, 0-1, in the first round after she was penalized a point for stepping out of the octagon twice. 

She was more composed in the next, connecting with a with a punch and kick to wrest the lead, 2-1, entering the third.

With the hometown crowd rooting her on, Lopez hit Roslan’s chest early in the final round for her third point before the Malaysian was deducted a point for a second warning that gave the former a comfortable 4-2 lead as time expired. – Rappler.com