Mikeala Calamba is Cebu?s Athlete of the Year
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 17 Mar 2013
CEBU CITY- A petite Cebuana teenager who is a gold medal winning practitioner of the Korean Martial Art Taekwondo was chosen by Cebu sportswriters as the recipient of the Athlete of the Year award.
Mikeala Calamba won a gold medal in the women?s freestyle event during the 7th World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, held last December 6-9 in Tunja, Colombia. She also won a bronze with the Philippine women?s team in the same event.
Her feat was unprecedented, the first time a Filipino Taekwondo jin won a gold medal in the individual event. The Phl squad finished their campaign with one gold, one silver and three bronzes.
Calamba beat Vietnam?s Van Chau for her gold and India?s Rosmaniar Defia and USA?s Ann Bernadette Rodriguez settled for the bronze medals. Together with Colombia?s Karen Arias, she was also cited with the Best Performance award in the said event.
What made the feat more incredible was the fact that she is fifteen years old and a high school student here in Cebu.
Calamba?s closest rivals for Athlete of the Year Honors were IBF junior flyweight champion Johnriel Casimero and newly-minted chess grandmaster Enrico Sevillano.
Calamba trains at the Baseline Tae Kwon Do Center here in Cebu City. She has practiced for only three years but became good enough to win a world championship.
Other winning feats by Calamba include a silver, women?s team-2012 World Tae kwon do Hanmadang Championships held at the Gangnam-gu in Seoul, South Korea, a silver- 7th Korea Open, gold - women?s individual category, Smart National CPJ Taekwondo Championships in Manila, gold- team event - Smart National CPJ Taekwondo Championships in Manila and a Gold, women?s individual, Smart National Interschool Championships at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium
Calamba performed her routine for the crowd who attended the awards ceremonies together with the other Taekwondo practitioners here in Cebu. She currently doesn?t have any plans to shift to the sparring event, which is Taekwondo?s Olympic event, because she feels poomsae is her forte. Calamba will continue to carry our nation?s colors in this year?s Southeast Asian Games.
The 31st Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) ? San Miguel Beer (SMB) Cebu Sports Awards was held Sunday afternoon at SM Cebu Northwing. The SAC Awards is known as the ?Oscars? of Cebu sports and awards and citations were given to Cebuano or Cebu based athletes who have won at the national and international level.
Recipients of special awards were Presidential awardee Pericles Dakay, the Cebu Football Association was honored with the ?Sportsman of the year? award and Sally Mae Siso received the ORLACSAN award.
Top photo ? Mikeala Calamba receives her award, Below ? the Taekwondo demonstration team
Photo ? Athlete of the Year Mikeala Calamba flanked by ALA gym boxers ? left to right ? Merlito Sabillo, Arthur Villanueva, Jason Pagara, Genesis Servania, Mikeala Calamba, Donnie Nietes, Milan Melindo and Rey Bautista
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