MANILA—Tshomlee Go, lacking fire and ferocity, succumbed to a 0-1 beating to Australian Ryan Carneli yesterday in the first round of the taekwondo bantamweight division of the 29th Olympic Games at University of Science and Technology in Beijing.
What was more stunning in Go’s defeat was the loss of Carneli to Thailand’s Chutchawal Khawlaor, 0-2, in the quarterfinal round later in the day that practically ended Go’s chances of making it to the repechage, which is a stage for first round losers to aspire for the bronze medal at the most.
With the exit, Go became the 13th member of the 15-man Team Philippines to bow out of contention in a very sad day that left Mary Antoinette Rivero as the remaining hope who can save the country from another embarrassing campaign.
If the 21-year-old Rivero loses, the Philippines will go home from the Olympiad empty-handed for the third straight Games.
Rivero is most likely feeling the weight of over 88 million Filipinos back home, who are hoping for the country’s first gold medal in the Olympics.
Repechage
Had the Australian defeated the Thai, Go would still have to wait and hope for another win by Carneli to gain a spot in the repechage where he will meet the other jins who lost to the finalists in the the 58-kilogram, 16-man division.
Rivero will climb into the one-meter high, blue-colored mat against Croatian Sandra Saric at 10 a.m. on Friday for the 67-kilogram division, which is a group filled with taekwondo stars led by two-time world champion Hwang Kyung-seon of South Korea.
A win by Rivero will pit her against Hwang in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m.
There was no aggressiveness on the part of Go despite being a battle-tested veteran who also lost in the first round in
Athens in 2004.
“Sa ganyang laban kailangan aggressive ka specially if you are behind,’’ said Philippine Olympic Committee president Peping Cojuangco after the fight. ‘’Tingin ko medyo nagkulang sa aggressiveness si Go.’’
POC chairman and Philippine Taekwondo Association president Robert Aventajado took a deeper look at the judging, saying ‘’we disagree with the outcome but we have to accept it,’’ said Aventajado in a text message.
‘’Tshomlee’s kicks connected, but were not seen by the judges. But we are still proud of our fighter. And we thank all those who prayed for him,’’ said Aventajado, who watched the action in the company of the parents of Rivero and Go parents. (FCC)
