Jins from the S.T.A.R Taekwondo Gym with their coach, Glenn Lava. S.T.A.R is one of the teams from Cebu that participated in the Carlos Palanca Taekwondo Championships.
/CONTRIBUTED
TEAM Cebu bounced back and cashed in medals in the recently concluded Carlos Palanca Jr. Taekwondo Championships, which ended last Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC) in Malate, Manila.
The Cebuano pack improved from its three-gold finish last year, snagging a total of five golds, one silver, and four bronze medals in this year’s tournament participated by some of the best jins in the nation.
Bannering the Cebuano squad was S.T.A.R Taekwondo’s Aidane Laxa, who topped the individual junior female poomsae competition. She then joined forces with sisters Nohea and Cheyena de La Fuente in snaggering the gold in the junior team event.
Alyssa and Alexander Llenes, meanwhile, each delivered golds for the former world champion coach Glenn Lava of S.T.A.R. as they emerged champions in the cadet female and cadet male categories, respectively. The Llenes duo also finished on top of the cadet pair event.
Though the feat pitched another bright year ahead for Cebu’s taekwondo scene, Philippine Taekwondo Association Region 7 (PTA-7) chair Tony del Prado still believes his jins can do more and improve.
“As Grandmaster (Sung Chon) Hong said, they (Cebuano jins) have to train consistently and if possible daily,” Del Prado told Cebu Daily News.
Meanwhile, Manila-based Cebuano jins also made waves in the tournament led by National Team member Rinna Babanto of De La Salle University, who collared two golds in the senior individual and mixed pair poomsae categories.
National University’s Nica Garces also started off her year on a high note as she grabbed the gilt in the senior women’s flyweight sparring action.