RP jin Go claims World Cup silver

Tshomlee Go, 20-year-old UST Education sophomore, bagged a silver medal to spark a remarkable Petron Philippine Team showing in the recent World Cup Taekwondo 2001 Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The 5-foot-9 Go, silver medallist in the Asian and SEATU championships and bronze winner in the US Open held earlier this year, lost to Korean Yang Chang II in the flyweight finals after beating Madagascar’s Rabearuaona Jean Fidely, Iran’s Behzad Kohdadad Kanjobeh and Turkey’s Sedat Bekdemir in earlier rounds.

The Petron RP Team also won three other bronze medals through Olympians Roberto Cruz and Eva Marie Ditan, both finweight, and heavyweight Dax Alberto Morfe.

With one silver and two bronzes, the Filipinos tied the United States for sixth overall in the men’s division and, with one silver, finished tied with Lesotho for 10th overall in the women’s group. Eighteen countries are represented in both divisions.

Cruz toppled Iran’s M. Reza Mehdizadeh and Egypt’s Tamer Salah before losing to Spain’s Juan Ramon Ramos in the semifinals.

Ditan whipped Malaysia’s Claudia Wee Chwee Wei and Mexico’s Yaquelin Licona but fell to Chinese Taipei’s Chen Shih Hsin in the semis, while Morfe, silver medallist in the SEATU tilt held also in Vietnam, drew a first round bye, beat Germany’s Czech in the quarters and tumbled to Vietnamese Nguyen Van Hung in the semis.

The Filipinos’ trip, bankrolled by Petron and the Philippine Sports Commission, served as part of their preparation for the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur this September.

Korea reigned supreme, winning three golds each in the men’s and women’s.