CEBU, Philippines - Another awardee of the just-concluded 28th Sportswriters Association of Cebu-San Miguel Brewery All-Cebu Sports Awards is leaving Cebu to join the national team – taekwondo jin Shaneen Ched Sia.
Sia is set to leave Cebu today, bringing along with her great memories and good impressions of the Cebuanos, she said in an exclusive interview with The Freeman.
Crowd-darling, Sia came to study at Cebu Doctors’ University taking up Physical Therapy last year since her mom didn’t want her to go to Manila.
With Cebuanos actively-involved in sports, Shaneen continued to train in taekwondo under the care of Master Kenn Toledo, 4th Dan black belt and a 3-time US Big East Champion when she is not so pressured in school.
Sia is also an academic scholar, a privilege given to her for being a class valedictorian in CDO’s International School.
It was only this month that Shaneen’s parents approved of her going to Manila to train and study.
From CDU, Shaneen will be transferring to the University of Sto. Tomas were she will be part of the varsity team on top of being a member of the RP squad.
An impressive showing during the Philippine Taekwondo Association’s latest evaluation made late last month formally got Sia a slot in the RP team.
Sia is only 16. Being such, she is still qualified to be a part of junior team until she is 18.
Last year, Sia had been part of the elite RP Poomsae team along with two other equally-pretty jins — Janice Lagman and Camille Alarilla in the 9th Asean Taekwondo Federation Championships held at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, but Sia humbly said, it was just more of a lucky shot for her to be part of the team since the third member of the RP women’s team in poomsae or forms backed out to go to U.S.
“Before that competition, I was joining the RP team’s training in Manila already together with my brother, the one that got me into this sport. When I was asked if I was interested to compete in the Asean event, I said why not? But that was it. I was not yet formally entered into the team,” recalled Sia.
Earlier last month, Sia joined the Carlos Palanca Jr. National Taekwondo Championships in Manila were she bagged three golds, the only one to do so from all Cebu-based athletes. Being a gold medalist in the said event earned Sia the right to have an evaluation.
With her looks and brains, people are wondering why she engaged in a contact sport like taekwondo.
Before one could react why she had chosen poomsae over kyogi or sparring, Sia said she was first into the combative side when she was starting out until she was told by her coach in Cagayan to train in the forms competition so she could also help out train other athletes in the said discipline, which is still relatively new in the country as compared to kata in karatedo.
Since she also has her studies to attend to, Sia decided to focus on forms.
“Sparring requires more time for training, more demanding, more exhausting. As much as I love it, I don’t have the luxury of time to train for it especially that I’m now in college,” says the black-belter Sia.
The former Palarong Pambansa standout looks forward to training in Korea as well also targeting to get a slot in the next World Juniors Taekwondo Championships and get the medal the RP squad which also included her brother Kevin missed.
“I hope to be in the Olympics, to compete in the World Championships, but right now all I have to do is train hard for this, but I will never leave school, I promise that,” Sia added.
Before Sia left, she promised to be back in Cebu to reciprocate the warm welcome, support and honor given to her perhaps by holding a clinic someday or just be assisting the local trainers.
“One year ra tuod ko diri Cebu, but it feels like I had been here forever. I will miss the local taekwondo community the most, someone who has been there for me that I’m far from home.” (FREEMAN NEWS)