For the first time since taekwondo was introduced in the Olympics in 1988, there will be no Filipino jin heading to the biggest sporting event in the world this year in Paris.
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Kurt Barbosa fell short of making a return trip to the Olympics after losing to Samirkhon Ababakirov of Kazakhstan in the semifinal of the men’s -58-kilogram division of the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament Saturday in Tai’an City, China.
Barbosa lost in two rounds, kissing his Olympic hopes goodbye as this is the only qualifier for the Paris Games, which runs from 26 July to 11 August.
The Abra native defeated Chalinda Liyange of Sri Lanka in the Round of 16 before beating Chiok Chun Yin of Hong Kong in the quarterfinal stage.
SEA Games bronze medalist Baby Jessica Canabal also fell in the women’s -57-kg semifinal after losing to Laetitia Aoun of Lebanon.
Last Friday saw Arven Alcantara losing to Ali Reza Abbasi of Afghanistan in the quarterfinal of men’s -68-kilogram while Tachiana Keizha Mangin also flubbed her bid in the women’s -57 kg after fading away in the semifinal round against Dunya Abutaleb of Saudi Arabia.
This will be the first Olympics in 36 years that a Filipino will not be in the Olympics since former lawmaker Monsour del Rosario and current Philippine Taekwondo Association director Stephen Fernandez represented the country in the 1988 Seoul Summer Games where the sport was introduced.
