Cruz bags bronze in 16th world taekwondo

Six-time Southeast Asian Games champion Roberto Cruz settled for a bronze medal in the 16th World Taekwondo Championships, bowing to Paul Green of Great Britain in the semifinal round in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany recently.

Cruz, also a veteran of the Sydney Olympics, set himself up for a place in the finweight medal podium after racking up victories over his first four rivals.

However, the 29-year-old Cruz bumped into a talented Green and lost even as compatriot Tshomlee Go fell a win short of nailing down a medal in the four-day competition which gathered the best jins from around the world.

Go disposed of his first three rivals but saw his medal bid put to a halt by Kanjobeb Behzad Khoadad of Iran in the quarterfinals.

Fancied Yeon Ho Choi of South Korea outclassed Green to win the gold, one of the seven hauled by the Koreans.

Zahid Mammadov of Azerbaijan, the other losing semifinalist, also took the bronze medal.

The rest of the Filipinos–Donald Geisler (lightweight), Alexander Briones (welterweight), Eva Ditan (finweight), Sally Solis (welterweight), Daleen Cordero (flyweight) and VeronicaDomingo (lightweight)–failed to land in the medal rounds.

After three days of action, powerhouse Korea is on top of the medal tally with seven golds and two bronzes followed by Iran with 2-2-1 and Chinese Taipei with 2-0-1.

The Filipinos’ participation in the world tilt is part of their build-up for the coming SEA Games in Vietnam.