| By Ed Andaya (People's Tonight) E-Mail: edandaya2003@yahoo.com August 21, 2011, Shenzhen SHENZHEN, China – The Philippines will not return home empty-handed in the 26th Summer Universiade, after all. |  Samuel Thomas Morrison |
Samuel Thomas Morrison of the Philippines made history by winning the country’s lone medal so far – a silver -- in the men's taekwondo
competitions at the Shenzhen Coinference and Exhibition Center here Saturday.
Morrison, the 21-year-old campaigner from Far Eastern University who rose to prominence by winning the gold medal in the 2010 Korea Open, swept his first four assignments before losing 5-9 to Kim Hun of South Korea in their gold medal match in the men’s -68 kg event.
The 5-11 Filipino champion put up a brave stand against his Korean opponent during the three-round encounter. After scorelss first round, Morrison lost 2-6 in the second round but won 2-1 in the third orund. Morrison, however, incurred two deductions against Kim’s only one deduction..
Morrison reached the final by winning over Wendell Grouby of US Virgin Islands by withdrawal in the round of 32, Christopher Dubois of France, 13-10, in the round-of-16, Almas Mukamanov of Kazakhstan, 10-2, in the quarterfinal, and Idulio Islas of Mexico, 5-4, in the semifinal.
Kim made it all to way to the final by winning over Thomas Auger of Austria, 13-0; Joshua Tercero of CRC, 14-0; Levon Pashabezyan of Armenia, 14-2; and Cesar Mari Puerta of Spain, 2-1.
Morrison’s silver medal finish brought a ray of hope for the 15-man taekwondo team sent here by the Federation of School Sports Associations of the Philippines (FESSAP), headed by David Ong and chef de mission Alvin Tai Lian.
:We’re proud of Morrison’s achievement It's a silver medal that glitters like gold. It’s clearly a big honor for the country,” said Ong.
2010 Kazakhstan Asian Championship bronze medalist Marlon Avenido, of University of Santo Tomas also made his presence felt by beating Nuttapong Limvattana of Thailand, 4-3, in sudden death to arranage a round-of-16 showdown against Arman Yeremyan of Armenia, 4-3 winnver over Fernando Rios of Spain.
Four other Filipino campaigners -- Jade Zafra, Anjelay Perez, Devy John Singson, Julian Mickey Cordero and Maria Cecilia Viray -- were not as fortunate, however.
Zafra lost to eventual gold medalist Marlene Harnois of France in their round-of-15 encounter in the women’s -57kg.
Zafra, the 21-year-old Univ ersity of Santo Tomas standout, who is best remembered for winning the bronze medal in the 2010 Korea Open, won over Natalia Zakhozha of Ukraine by superiority in the preliminaries to set up a round-of-16 meeting with Harnois.
Perez, at 18 one of the youngest members of the Filipino delegation, won over Thi Kim Chi Cao of Vietnam, 5-4, but lost to eventual gold medalist Anastasia Valueva of Russia, 9-9, in sudden death in the women’s 46kg.
Singson bowed to Yuma Matsui of Japan, 2-5, in the men’s -58 kg preliminaries, Cordero succumbed to Hussein El Sayed of Egypt, 3-4, in the men;s 54kg. preliminaries. and Viray yielded to Jae Ah Kim of Korea. in the women’s 49kg preliminaries.
Five other Filipino campaigners, led by 2010 Guangzhou Asian Game men’s -74kg bronze medalist Paul Romero and UAAP Season 73 Athlete of the Year Camille Manalo in women’s -62 kg are also set to see action during the eight-day taekwondo competiiton.
Like Avenido, Romero and Manalo also come from UST.
Also vying are Christian Al de la Cruz ( men’s 74kg) and Jose Anthony Soriano ( men’s 87kg) and Karla Jane Alava ( women’s 53kg).
In chess, Angelica Dilim outclassed Norhaida Hussin of Malaysia to riaser her score to 3.5 points on three wins, one draw and four losses in the 63-player women’s tournamnent at the Plum Blossoms Hall.
Dilim, however, is three fullpoints behind eighth-round leader IM Irina Vasilevich of Russia, who demolished WIM Olga Kalinina of Ukraine.
Jan Roldan Oriendo lost to IM Alvaro Valdez of Chile while Chrismar Tuazon bowed to Cyril Jing Chua of Singapore to remain in the lower half of the 86-player standings with 3.5 and two points , respectively, in the men’s division.
.GM Li Chao of China is the virtual champion with 7.5 points on seven wins and one draw. GM Wang Yue of China and three other players are tied for seocnd fifth places with six points.
Aside from taekwondo and chess, the Filipinos also competed in athletics, archery, men's basketball, women's beach volleyball, table tennis and swimming.
competitions at the Shenzhen Coinference and Exhibition Center here Saturday.
Morrison, the 21-year-old campaigner from Far Eastern University who rose to prominence by winning the gold medal in the 2010 Korea Open, swept his first four assignments before losing 5-9 to Kim Hun of South Korea in their gold medal match in the men’s -68 kg event.
The 5-11 Filipino champion put up a brave stand against his Korean opponent during the three-round encounter. After scorelss first round, Morrison lost 2-6 in the second round but won 2-1 in the third orund. Morrison, however, incurred two deductions against Kim’s only one deduction..
Morrison reached the final by winning over Wendell Grouby of US Virgin Islands by withdrawal in the round of 32, Christopher Dubois of France, 13-10, in the round-of-16, Almas Mukamanov of Kazakhstan, 10-2, in the quarterfinal, and Idulio Islas of Mexico, 5-4, in the semifinal.
Kim made it all to way to the final by winning over Thomas Auger of Austria, 13-0; Joshua Tercero of CRC, 14-0; Levon Pashabezyan of Armenia, 14-2; and Cesar Mari Puerta of Spain, 2-1.
Morrison’s silver medal finish brought a ray of hope for the 15-man taekwondo team sent here by the Federation of School Sports Associations of the Philippines (FESSAP), headed by David Ong and chef de mission Alvin Tai Lian.
:We’re proud of Morrison’s achievement It's a silver medal that glitters like gold. It’s clearly a big honor for the country,” said Ong.
2010 Kazakhstan Asian Championship bronze medalist Marlon Avenido, of University of Santo Tomas also made his presence felt by beating Nuttapong Limvattana of Thailand, 4-3, in sudden death to arranage a round-of-16 showdown against Arman Yeremyan of Armenia, 4-3 winnver over Fernando Rios of Spain.
Four other Filipino campaigners -- Jade Zafra, Anjelay Perez, Devy John Singson, Julian Mickey Cordero and Maria Cecilia Viray -- were not as fortunate, however.
Zafra lost to eventual gold medalist Marlene Harnois of France in their round-of-15 encounter in the women’s -57kg.
Zafra, the 21-year-old Univ ersity of Santo Tomas standout, who is best remembered for winning the bronze medal in the 2010 Korea Open, won over Natalia Zakhozha of Ukraine by superiority in the preliminaries to set up a round-of-16 meeting with Harnois.
Perez, at 18 one of the youngest members of the Filipino delegation, won over Thi Kim Chi Cao of Vietnam, 5-4, but lost to eventual gold medalist Anastasia Valueva of Russia, 9-9, in sudden death in the women’s 46kg.
Singson bowed to Yuma Matsui of Japan, 2-5, in the men’s -58 kg preliminaries, Cordero succumbed to Hussein El Sayed of Egypt, 3-4, in the men;s 54kg. preliminaries. and Viray yielded to Jae Ah Kim of Korea. in the women’s 49kg preliminaries.
Five other Filipino campaigners, led by 2010 Guangzhou Asian Game men’s -74kg bronze medalist Paul Romero and UAAP Season 73 Athlete of the Year Camille Manalo in women’s -62 kg are also set to see action during the eight-day taekwondo competiiton.
Like Avenido, Romero and Manalo also come from UST.
Also vying are Christian Al de la Cruz ( men’s 74kg) and Jose Anthony Soriano ( men’s 87kg) and Karla Jane Alava ( women’s 53kg).
In chess, Angelica Dilim outclassed Norhaida Hussin of Malaysia to riaser her score to 3.5 points on three wins, one draw and four losses in the 63-player women’s tournamnent at the Plum Blossoms Hall.
Dilim, however, is three fullpoints behind eighth-round leader IM Irina Vasilevich of Russia, who demolished WIM Olga Kalinina of Ukraine.
Jan Roldan Oriendo lost to IM Alvaro Valdez of Chile while Chrismar Tuazon bowed to Cyril Jing Chua of Singapore to remain in the lower half of the 86-player standings with 3.5 and two points , respectively, in the men’s division.
.GM Li Chao of China is the virtual champion with 7.5 points on seven wins and one draw. GM Wang Yue of China and three other players are tied for seocnd fifth places with six points.
Aside from taekwondo and chess, the Filipinos also competed in athletics, archery, men's basketball, women's beach volleyball, table tennis and swimming.
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