Saturday, August 23, 2008 RP’s Beijing haul: 0-0-0
MANILA - Hope is all gone as Mary Antoinette Rivero bowed to Croatia’s Sandra Saric, 1-4, yesterday in the first round of the 67-kilo class of women taekwondo in the 29th Olympic Games at the Beijing Universiry of Science and Technology.
Thus, the 15-man Team Philippines ended its campaign without a medal for the third straight Olympiad. The last time the Filipino athletes won a medal was a silver in 1996 in Atlanta, courtesy of Mansueto Velasco in boxing’s light flyweight division.
The 21-year-old Rivero found Saric too good and too strong, a sad setback that sent the two-time Filipina Olympian crying and Team RP officials asking what is wrong with the country’s sports.
A hope for even a bronze medal through the repechage suddenly went awry after Saric later lost to top favorite and Athens bronze medalist Hwang Kyung-seon of South Korea, 3-1 in the quarterfinal round.
“We’re proud of her performance. Deep down, she did her best. I told her to treasure this valuable experience,” said coach Rocky Samson.
Saric scored three points in the third and final round, capped by a defensive kick in the dying seconds to pull away for good before a crowd of 5,000 that included First
Gentleman Mike Arroyo, Philippine sports officials, parents and relatives of Rivero.
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” was all Rivero, a first year interdisciplinary studies student at the Ateneo de Manila could say while crying in an interview after the match.
Body armor
After a scoreless first round, the two mixed it up furiously with the Croatian soring a 45-degree kick to the chest of Rivero but the lone Filipino hope retaliated with a strike to the body armor to tie the score for the first and last time, 1-1.
But it was not long when the 143-pound, 5-foot-9 Saric unleashed a decisive blow to the body that enabled her to take control of the match, 3-1.
“I fought a dangerous rival. So I have to be very careful,’’ she said of Saric.
Samson, the long time coach of Rivero graciously accepted the defeat of his ward, saying Saric had done a good job.
“I would say I respect the Croatian. She knows what to do. She was able to use her experience. Mahaba ang legs and she’s taller by two or three inches than Toni. She clearly won that fight,’’ said Samson. (FCC)
