A YOUTHFUL Filipino-American taekwondo jin made waves in various inter-state and national championships in the United States of America.
The 13-year-old Elizann Emata-Blank, who hails from the municipality of Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, before settling to the US soil, kept a winning streak from a serious campaign in different state and national competitions since two years ago.
The Filipino Channel or TFC, an international news and television program owned by network giant ABS-CBN, featured Blank over her feats recently.
The California-based Blank pulled a big win in the USA Taekwondo Championships in the summer of 2015 held in Houston, Texas. In the same year, she succeeded another gold finish in the Las Vegas Open.
Lately, she salvaged another gold medal in the California State Taekwondo Championships.
And her trainer? He is no less than George Arsenal, a former trainer of the Kagayhaan Dojang Taekwondo Gym before running his own Arsenal Taekwondo Center.
"She came to me in 2015 to train and I'm proud of her that she's on the top now," said Arsenal, who is currently in the US campaigning for major taekwondo tournaments.
He noticed that Blank has improved a lot since then in her fighting weight at 48 kls cadet girls category.
"Tagoloanon na siya ug didto na sa US nagdako (She's from Tagoloan but she grew up in US)," Arsenal revealed.
Blank got the needed exposure after facing different nationalities in the national championships in the likes of Russian, Polish, Mexican and Canadian opponents.