Tshomlee says it's time to go

MANILA, Philippines - Just three days after turning 29, taekwondo star Tshomlee Go, now happily married, has announced his retirement.

“It was a tough decision to make especially if you love what you’re doing,” said Go, who’s now in the United States, trying to settle down with his wife, Renee Ann Ortega.

Renee’s sister, Rani Ann, is part of the Philippine trio that won the World Poomsae ladies gold in 2009, along with Janice Lagman and Camille Alarilla.

A veteran of the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, winner of two bronze and a silver in the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Asian Games, and two-time gold medal winner in the Southeast Asian Games, Go said it’s time to go.

“Hanggang doon na lang siguro ako (Maybe that’s as far as I can go). I’m facing a new chapter in life as a married man,” said Go, who started with taekwondo at age seven, just when he was learning how to read.

He said it was after last year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou that he informed Sung Chon Hong, long-time president of the Philippine Taekwondo Association, that it was time to go.

The chief of Philippine taekwondo said he respected Go’s decision.

“Tshomlee has done enough for the country. We wish him luck. But our Olympic drive is on track, our development is continuing. We have 100 players in the national pool,” said the PTA chief.

Last November, Go went under the knife for a fractured bone in his right middle finger. A pin was placed to align the bone.

Go’s retirement came just days after swimmer Miguel Molina, the top male athlete of the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand, announced his own retirement from competitive swimming.

Molina, only 26 and his best days still ahead of him, said he wants to give the younger swimmers a chance to shine, and that he may consider helping out as a coach someday.

Molina is probably the most bemedalled Filipino athlete in the SEA Games. He’s been to the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, and has even qualified to the 2012 Games in London.

But thoughts of retirement caught up with him, and like Go, he decided to leave.

Another Filipino athlete with great credentials – female boxer Annie Albania – seems to be on the way out, either by way of retirement or if she’s officially dropped from the national team.

Albania is facing severe sanctions from the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines for her failure to report for training or at least inform boxing officials of her whereabouts.

A three-time gold medalist in the SEA Games, Albania is also considered a bright prospect for the London Olympics, but the ABAP leadership, under Ricky Vargas, said it doesn’t have room for athletes lacking in discipline.

Albania has disputed the ABAP stand, saying she was only out because of injury. However, she said she’s ready to face the consequences of her continued absence, and now the search is on for her replacement.