Jins Rivero, Briones add 2 more gold medals to RP harvest
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 11 Dec 2009
Filipino taekwondo jins continued taking the cudgels in the Philippines campaign as Mary Antoinette Rivero and Alex Briones scooped up a gold medal each yesterday, day when world pool champion Efren ?Bata? Reyes and ?kumpadre? Francisco ?Django? Bustamante bowed out of contention in the doubles of the 9-ball event in billiards in the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos.
The beauteous two-time Olympian Rivero led the jins? incredible medal run by ruling the women?s welterweight divisions in a victory matched by Briones in the men?s heavyweight class.
Rivero toppled Nguyen Thi Dong of Vietnam, 2-1, in the finals of her category while Briones clobbered the taller Sorn Elit of Cambodia, 3-0, in the gold medal match to hike the RP jins? total gold medal wins to three in Day 2 of this regional conclave.
The lovely troika of Camille Alarilla, Rannie Ortega and Janice Lagman started the jins? victgry streak when they bagged the mint in the women?s poomsae team competition Wednesday.
Marlon Avenido and Kirstie Alora were also impressive as they plucked the silver medal in their respective events.
Avenido bowed to Luong Minh Dat of Vietnam in the men?s welterweight category while Alora surrendered the gold to 2007 SEA Games silver medalist Rapatkorn Prasopsuk of Thailand in the women?s heavyweight class.
But it was Rivero, the battle-scarred veteran of the Athens and Beijing Olympics, who clearly shone the brightest.
Stepping on the mat oozing with confidence, the 21-year-old International Studies student at Ateneo took control early on en route to the victory. Though her Vietnamese foe tried to fight back, Rivero fortified her defense knowing that the gold medal is already within reach.
?Nakauna kasi ako sa kanya kaya siguro puro pagsugod na lang ang nasa ulo niya. But I was ready so I na-withstand ko ang attacks niya,? related Rivero, who could only bag the silver in Thailand 2007.
?I maintained my lead and attacked at any given opportunity,? she added. ?I have never met her, but I heard that she?s good. Good thing I prepared hard to pull off this easy win.?
Action in taekwondo resumes Friday with six gold medals from the men and women's featherweight, bantamweight and lightweight classes at stake
It was a day when even world champions have their bad day on the front. Reyes and Bustamante suffered a stunning 7-4 loss to Thailand Thursday that all but thwarted their bid for the gold in the billiards and snooker 9-ball double of the 25th Southeast Asian Games here.
The Filipino duo, favored to top the event where they emerged triumphant two months ago during the World Cup of Pool Championship in Manila, the sport's Hall of Famers didn?t really get on track the moment they trailed 0-3 deficit against the Thai pair of Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Surathep Phoochalam in their quarterfinal match at the Covention Hall of the Don Chan Palace.
The Filipino duo managed to rally back to even the count at 4-4 but abandoned the them as they never scored again as the Thais swept the last three racks, including a spectacular shot at the 9-ball for the game-clinching win.
?Naunahan kami,? admitted Reyes, considered as perhaps the greatest pool player ever.
The setback was a big blow to the campaign of the fearsome Filipino cue artists, who are tipped to win as many as five golds in this year?s edition of the biennial meet.
The loss of Reyes, the former world 9-ball champion, and Bustamante, once ranked No. 1 in the world, left former world champion Ronnie Alcano and reigning world 10-ball titlist Rubilen Amit to carry the carry the country?s colors.
Also losing their match Thursday was the duo of Reynaldo Grandea and Warren Kiamco in the English billiards double, a 3-0 loser to Thailand?s Praprut Chaithanasakun and Thawat Sujaritthurakan.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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